DHAKA: Bangladesh wicket-keeper batter Mushfiqur Rahim is all set to miss the West Indies tour starting in June due to the Haj pilgrimage. Bangladesh are likely to travel to the West Indies on June 5 and will be playing two Tests, three T20Is and as many ODIs against the host.
As per ESPNCricinfo, Bangladesh Cricket Board has granted leave to the veteran batter so that he can perform Haj.
“He informed us before the Sri Lanka series that he wants to perform Haj this year,” ESPNcricinfo quotes Jalal Yunus, BCB’s cricket operations chairman as saying.
“When he got confirmation, he gave us a letter that he wanted to leave. We have granted him the time. We had an initial thought that he might be available for part of the tour, but he is off for the whole tour,” he added.
Mushfiqur became the first from the team to reach 5,000 runs in the format in the Chattogram Test last week.
With Rahim unavailable for the entire West Indies tour, it is a big blow for Bangladesh which is already dealing with many injury issues. Taskin Ahmed is recovering from a shoulder injury while Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, and Nayeem Hasan are suffering from hand injuries. (ANI)