Mushfiq could be dropped for third ODI: Minhajul

Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin has stated that senior batsman Mushfiqur Rahim might not be played in the third one-day international (ODI) against Zimbabwe if Bangladesh win the second ODI and secure the series.

The chief selector explained that since Mushfiq has decided to not tour Pakistan the team that would be selected for the third ODI would be the team that plays the one-off ODI against Pakistan at Rawalpindi next month.

"If we win the series today (Tuesday) then we won't have Mushfiq in the third match. We want to have a team that would most likely play in the ODI against Pakistan on April 3 to prepare better for that," Minhajul told the media at a press-conference on Monday.

The former national team captain also explained that Mushfiqur Rahim did not want to go to Pakistan for the third leg of the tour which would have one ODI and a Test match at Rawalpindi.

Mushfiq did not want to travel to Pakistan based on concerns about the security there from his family and the board wanted to know if he had changed his decision after Bangladesh toured there twice without any incident.

"We spoke with Mushfiq to know his decision on touring Pakistan and if he changed his mind. He directly said that he did not want to go. Since he doesn't want to go, we have to plan differently for the Test and the ODI in Pakistan," Minhajul explained.

There were reports that the BCB president Nazmul Hassan had threated that Mushfiq would be dropped from the side if he didn't tour Pakistan but Minhajul cleared the air about the situation: "The news reports you are talking about, we have seen that too. We sat together with the team management and the head coach Russell Domingo and Mushfiq said that he did not want to go to Pakistan."