"Did I retire from T20Is on my own wish?" - Mushfiqur Rahim hints at being forced to drop format

Veteran Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim has expressed dissatisfaction at the events leading up to his retirement from T20Is in September 2022.

On Wednesday, February 28, after he led his team Fortune Barishal to the final of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 with an unbeaten 47 off 38, Rahim was asked by on-ground reporters whether he regretted his decision. To this, he replied:

"No. What's there to regret? You are saying this (my game sense and performance is good) after I played well, no one said that before."

But then he added:

"I just want to ask one question? Did I retire from T20Is on my own wish? Just look at the month before when I retired in T20s and I don't have anything else to say."

Mushfiqur Rahim announced his retirement from T20Is just after the 2022 Asia Cup in UAE. There were question marks regarding his poor form with the bat and reports suggested that he was going to be dropped from Bangladesh's squad for the T20I World Cup in Australia that year.

---

"I feel bad about it" - Mushfiqur Rahim on talks about his age

The 36-year-old was also asked about how he takes the criticism about his game with regards to his age. He denied being 'motivated' by it and admitted that it affects his mental space.

"It does not motivate me and I feel bad about it. Even today if you bring lot of young players in front of me, I am sure they will not get near me with respect to fitness," he said.

"How will you give criterion to fitness whether it is age and performance? I feel it should be fitness and performance considering age is just a number otherwise player's like Jimmy Anderson would have been rare. I don't play to prove anything to anyone and those who have picked me, I am thankful to them, like Tamim and owner of Barisal. I want to repay their faith through my performance," he added.

Mushfiqur Rahim scored 1500 runs in 102 T20Is at an average of 19.48 and a strike rate of 115.03.