Veteran Bangladeshi batter Mushfiqur Rahim has been at odds with the national selectors for the past few months and tongues wagged after he was not named in the squad that will face Pakistan in a series of three T20Is.
While the selectors termed his exclusion as ‘rest’, the veteran keeper-batter has urged them to be more honest and call a spade a spade and reveal that he was in fact dropped from the side for the T20I series vs Men in Green.
Mushfiqur, on Wednesday, said that he is eyeing a comeback in the shortest format but added that the selection panel should say the truth.
''There will be ups and downs in a cricketer's career and this is not the first time I am getting dropped but probably after a long gap. There is no problem [in getting dropped] and I am not taking it negatively,” Mushfiqur said.
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''I have always tried for Bangladesh and will do the same in the future. There are times when I can perform and there are times when I fail. It is not the end of the world and if there is an opportunity I will try to give my best shot,'' he said before calling for the selection panel to tell the truth.
''Certainly [they should say that I am dropped] because everyone should say the truth because nothing is bigger than the team and I am just an ordinary member. The performance goes up and down and everyone should be judged by performance and fitness. They could have easily said that we are thinking something else and not considering you in this series and if you can perform then,” the former Bangladeshi captain added.
The national selectors said that Mushfiqur was being rested keeping in mind the four-Test matches that follow the T20I series against Pakistan and New Zealand.
''If they had said it like this then I would have felt it much better that at least they have shown some respect. If they were thinking of the upcoming four-Test matches then they could have said that then before the World Cup they could have said that "we have four Test matches and you can take a break" and it would have been appropriate because I would be mentally ready and could have taken my preparation accordingly and perhaps could have made plans differently like could have played two rounds of NCL but they informed so late that I cannot make any preparation plans for the Tests,'' he said.
''They asked me whether I am available and suddenly this rest but it's difficult to plan if everything is done all of a sudden. They told me selection panel, management, head coach and team director decided that they are not considering me [for Pakistan T20s],'' he added.
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Mushfiqur reminded that lack of communication with selectors led him to miss the five-T20I series against Australia as Cricbuzz reported that the selectors did not contact him ahead of the series as he was beside his ailing family member though he could have joined the team as they recovered before the deadline given by Cricket Australia.
''Am I a tiger out of a cage that I will eat them [selectors] or others. Ahead of the Australia series Nannu bhai (chief selector) called me and asked about the well-being of my father and mother and I informed them that they are getting better afterwards I called Nannu bhai and said that my parents are well and I am taking mental preparation for the Australia series but even after that if they can't say anything I cannot do anything. The team won against Australia and perhaps they felt that they don't require me in the team anymore,'' he said.
Mushfiqur also pointed out the gap in communication with coach Russell Domingo who had announced that he is not interested in keeping anymore, while Mushfiqur had suggested split keeping duties for the New Zealand series.
''To be honest it's challenging for me. There are lots of instances before and I feel there is a communication gap because I am not sure whether I am a tiger or lion...and if we can have an open discussion it is better for everyone. I don't consider me only as a cricketer but what I feel is that I can be a mentor and I want to make sure whoever takes over can start from where I am ending and I feel it is my duty as well.
If I talk about Sohan( Nurul Hasan) if the team environment is such that the boy is getting embarrassed looking into my eyes and I am feeling bad [how does it look] and so I am saying this could have been handled in a much smoother way if they just told me,” Mushfiqur said.
''I was planning to quit keeping after the World Cup and I feel he (Nurul) is more capable than me and I could have given it to him with my own hands. But why it did not happen and why it happened the way it happened I am not sure. Now if someone says that I have taken a decision because it is required for the team and the cricketer and others are not aware why it is taken and what is the plan then certainly it turns out to be something else and so we need to be much clearer in this regard," he finished.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
