In recent times, we’ve seen a lot of international cricketers take breaks from the game and announcement shock retirements, either from all formats or maybe from just one or two formats of the game. Another massive announcement came in earlier today as former Bangladesh captain and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim decided to hang up his boots.
Rahim rose to fame in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean when Bangladesh delivered a surprise knockout blow to India and he’s been an integral part of the team across all formats ever since then. Over the past 15 years, he played 82 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 102 T20Is for Bangladesh, before decided to retire from the T20 international format.
Mushfiqur Rahim retires from T20Is
You may think that it’s quite early in his career to make this call but he’s actually 35 years old now, and he’s made a wise decision so that he can concentrate on his fitness for playing the ODI and Test format. It’s a move very similar to what we saw from Ben Stokes recently, retiring from ODIs to concentrate on the two other formats of the game.
I would like to announce my retirement from T20 INTERNATIONALS and focus on Test and ODI formats of the game. I will be available to play franchise leagues when the opportunity arrives. Looking forward to proudly represent my nation in the two formats-MR15
— Mushfiqur Rahim (@mushfiqur15) September 4, 2022
Cricketers lauded Stokes’ decision as it was done for workload management, which is critical given packed cricket schedules these days. “I would like to announce my retirement from T20 INTERNATIONALS and focus on Test and ODI formats of the game. I will be available to play franchise leagues when the opportunity arrives. Looking forward to proudly represent my nation in the two formats-MR15,” he said on his Twitter account.
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While he has been a talisman of Bangladesh cricket over the years, his numbers in the longer formats are way better than his T20I numbers, and quite a few Twitter users pointed that out as well. In fact, with the likes of Liton Das and Nurul Hasan maturing in recent times, there are some good substitute wicket-keeper options emerging too.
Only 15 players have gone on to play 100 or more matches in the history of T20Is.
𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗥 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺:
115.03 – Mushfiqur Rahim𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘃𝗴 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺:
19.48 – Mushfiqur Rahim— 🌹👑Mr_ Abhay_17..🐐 (@iam_abhay_17) September 4, 2022
🚨 Mushfiqur Rahim announces his retirement from T20I cricket.
Better late than never. Need to respect the decision that he had the courage at least to take it just two months before the T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/E0FX3VMwKG
— Saif Ahmed (@saifahmed75) September 4, 2022
This comes at a time when Bangladesh is struggling in the T20I format, recently losing to Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, and being knocked out in the first round of the T20 Asia Cup 2022 as well, after making three of the last four finals in Asia Cup tournaments. It’s also just a couple of months before the T20 World Cup takes place in Australia.
Mushfiqur Rahim , in his entire T20 career he got happy 2 times :-
First when India got knocked out of 2016 wc & second when he hit consecutive fours against Pandya 😂😂😂#BanglaDesh pic.twitter.com/o9IwSsdnVa— Mayank Nema (@MayankMNema) September 4, 2022
His scores of only 1 and 4 against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the 2022 Asia Cup would’ve helped him make the decision to quit in this format, and focus on the others. He didn’t have too many fans in India because of comments made in the past, while he didn’t have Sri Lankan fans either, given his recent ‘Naagin’ dance antics. However, he was adored by Bangladesh cricket fans. See here:
We thought we will see you in better shape but you say good bye… You are the person who make us fall in love with 🇧🇩 cricket.. It was our pleasure to see you with gloves again.. We gonna literally miss you.. Hoping for your better journey in future.. #MushfiqurRahim https://t.co/X0A7zlqy9r
— Mohammad Ali Rplsc (@AliRplsc) September 4, 2022
We wish Mushfiqur all the best for the rest of his career in ODIs and Tests, and congratulate him on a successful stint in the T20I format as well. For more updates on cricket from around the world, remember to always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com .
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