Mushfiqur Rahim has told Bangladesh chief selector Minhajul Abedin that he will not be travelling to Pakistan for the T20Is that start on January 24.
Abedin told news agency AFP: “Mushfiqur rang me today to inform me that he will not go to Pakistan. We are now awaiting his formal letter. Once he does that, we will leave him out of the series.”
Bangladesh’s tour to Pakistan was confirmed on January 14, after much negotiation between the PCB and BCB. While the BCB had initially said it would only tour Pakistan for T20Is but not for the scheduled Tests due to its security concerns, the two boards eventually drew up a plan by which Bangladesh visit Pakistan over three legs – first, for three T20Is between January 24 and 27, then for the first Test from February 7 to 11, and finally for one ODI and one more Test between April 3 and 9.
It remains to be be seen if Rahim will head to Pakistan for the second and third legs of the tour.