Bangladesh will miss their veteran cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim in their last Super Four game of the ongoing Asia Cup against India. The two teams are scheduled to face each other on September 15. However, this is a dead-rubber clash with India already in the final while Bangladesh have been knocked out of the tournament.
Coming back to Rahim, the wicketkeeper-batter had returned to Bangladesh to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. He was expected to rejoin the squad ahead of the clash against India but Rahim sought an extension of leave from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) with his wife yet to recover fully. BCB has granted him the leave and the news has been confirmed by BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus.
"Mushfiqur has informed us that his wife is still recovering [after giving birth], and he needs to be by her side and with their children at this time. We fully understand his situation and have decided to permit him to skip the game," Yunus said in a statement according to ESPNCricinfo.
Bangladesh have played very poorly in the Asia Cup this time around. They have beaten Afghanistan only while losing to Sri Lanka (twice) and Pakistan (once) in other matches. Their batting has been a major concern with scores of 164, 193 and 236 in lost matches. Rahim has been one of their better batters with 131 runs in four innings at an average of 32.75 with 64 against Pakistan being his best score.
Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup: Tanzid Hasan. Towhid Hridoy, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Anamul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
