Mushfiqur Rahim, one of Bangladesh’s most accomplished players, was dropped out of the T20I team that will confront Pakistan in a three-match series. The cricketer, meanwhile, stated that the selection did not surprise him because he was not with his team in the preparations session and completed his gym workouts alone. Rahim thought that national selectors did not discuss properly after failing to make the criteria for the very first time since 2008.

The selectors later described his ‘exclusion’ as ‘rest,’ referring to the four-Test series versus New Zealand and Pakistan. The cricketer, on the other hand, did not like this approach and felt that facts must be expressed in a straightforward manner instead of blindly believing and providing in different ways.

Everyone should be judged by performance and fitness: Rahim

“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..,” said Rahim.

The 34-year-old also believes that highs and lows are a part of a cricketer’s journey and that he is being discarded not for the first time, but after a long period. And also added that he would have felt much stronger if the selectors had notified him of his exclusion instead of term it as rest.

“’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,” added Rahim.