I am definitely available, says Mushfiqur Rahim after he was “released” from the Bangladesh T20I squad

Just a day after Mushfiqur Rahim was kicked off the Bangladesh squad for the Pakistani T20Is, he denied claims that he was rested. Mushfiqur said he didn't need rest and told team management he was available, but they made a mutual decision to drop him.

"To be honest, I haven't gotten to the stage where I have to tell someone I need some rest," Mushfiqur told Channel 24 on Wednesday. "I'm definitely available. Why not? I obviously had a disappointing World Cup . I needed an opportunity to recover. "

"I was asked if I was available and I said that of course I was available. But I was told that the selection committee, the team management, the head coach and the team director made a joint decision to drop me." Two days ago, Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector, had insisted that Mushfiqur was "rested" because they needed him fresh for the two tests against Pakistan after the three T20Is that begin Friday.

"We have four games in a row against Pakistan and New Zealand," Minhajul said. “He's a key player. He's one of our best players. Tamim Iqbal is already injured. He has doubts about the test series. We want our best player to give his best during the test series, so after extensive consultation with the team management we decided to take it easy. It's only for the Pakistan series. It will be available later. "

The subject occupied the press conference of Captain Mahmudullah on Thursday in Dhaka. Mahmdullah distanced himself from the decision, saying that the team leader (of which he is a captain) should be asked. "I think it's best to ask the team management," he said. “I wasn't part of the decision.

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“I don't know what Mushfiq said. I can only comment after seeing what he said. "It's completely the decision of the team management. I don't want to talk about that. All I can say is that we'll miss Mushfiq."

Mahmdullah himself has been in the limelight since the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where they lost all five of their Super 12 games and started their campaign with a six-game loss to Scotland. He has been criticized for his armband and also for his unbeaten 31 out of 24 in the West Indies chase; Bangladesh took 53 runs with 39 balls when he came out to hit but fell short by three runs.

However, Mahmudullah was Bangladesh's second-highest goalscorer in the tournament with 169 runs in eight games at 28.16 and a hit rate of 120.71. Mushfiqur managed 144 in the eight games, at 20.57, with a hit rate of 113.38 - including half a century against Sri Lanka.

However, ahead of Friday's game, Mahmudullah said he was looking ahead instead of thinking about the World Cup.

"If we keep talking about what happened it could have a negative impact," he said. "I'm really focused on the T20 match [coming up], how I can contribute as an individual player and make sure everyone else contributes too.

"We take everything positively. Pakistan is definitely a great T20 team, which makes it a challenge for us."