Mushfiqur Rahim: “I think it is pretty clear. It won’t change in the future. I wish well to those who are going to Pakistan”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has made it clear that he won’t be travelling to Pakistan in April.

Rahim’s refusal to go comes after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said that he was “contract-bound” to tour the country.

“We are expecting that he would go,” Nazmul had said. “Not only him, but every contracted player should go. Players have to think about the country, and not just themselves. This is what I personally feel.

“The country comes before everything else. Everyone should keep it in mind. We will remind them that the contracted players must play as they are told, when selected. It never occurred to me that one has to tell them this, too.”

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But, Rahim, who missed the Twenty20 series and first Test, reiterated that he won’t change his mind ahead of the one-off ODI and second Test, both of which will be held in Karachi.

“I made my stance clear about Pakistan, and they [BCB have] also accepted it,” Mushfiqur told NTV news channel as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “They should have shown me respect for not putting my name in the PSL draft either. I think it is pretty clear. It won’t change in the future. I wish well to those who are going to Pakistan.”

The ODI will be held on April 3, while the second Test will begin on April 5.

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