Mushfiqur summoned to BCB meeting over 'recent interviews'

Following Mushfiqur Rahim's claim that he has been dropped from the Bangladesh T20I squad, the wicketkeeper batter has been summoned to a meeting by the top brass of the BCB.

Mushfiqur was handed a letter from the board and then he appeared before BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan, chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, disciplinary committee chairman Sheikh Sohel and media committee chairman Jalal Younis on the sidelines of the series opener against Pakistan.

"We gave him a letter, so that we could meet and talk about his recent interviews," Akram told Cricday. "He came at 6pm. I was there, along with Jalal bhai, Sohel bhai and the CEO. We had a good chat. We wanted to remove any misunderstanding between him and the selectors. It wasn't a show cause."

Mushfiqur gave the interviews on Wednesday, the day after chief selector Minhajul Abedin claimed that they had "rested" him.

"To be honest I haven't reached the stage when I have to tell someone that I need rest," Mushfiqur told Channel 24. "I am definitely available. Why won't I be? I obviously had a disappointing World Cup. I needed an opportunity to bounce back.

"I was asked if I was available, to which I said of course I am available. But I was told that the selection committee, team management, head coach and team director took a collective decision to drop me."

Mushfiqur made 144 runs at 20.57 with one half-century in the T20 World Cup. He didn't look particularly out of form but some of his dismissals - when he missed reverse sweeps and scoops - at crucial stages of the innings became a topic of intense discussions back home.

Mushfiqur also created a bit of buzz after Bangladesh's defeat to Sri Lanka at the World Cup, when he shot back at the critics, asking them to "look into the mirror before criticising the team". Bangladesh's press conferences tended to be rather spicy all through the tournament as players reacted to their commitment being questioned.

Bangladesh responded to their poor showing at the World Cup by making six changes to the squad facing Pakistan in this three-match series. Mushfiqur, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das were left out but the selectors and team management led by Russell Domingo, kept faith in Afif Hossain, who made only 54 runs in eight innings during the World Cup.