Sports Desk:

Former captain and senior Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has announced his retirement from Twenty20 international cricket.

‘Today, I am announcing my retirement from T20 Internationals. I will proudly continue to represent Bangladesh in Test and ODI formats. I am hopeful that I can bring success for our nation in these two formats,’ Mushfiq said in a statement on his verified Facebook page on Sunday.

However, Mushfiq said that he would continue to take part in franchise-based T20 cricket, including the Bangladesh Premier League.

Mushfiq’s retirement came after Bangladesh failed to qualify for the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup in the UAE.

Bangladesh lost both their Group B matches in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, in which Mushfiq contributed only five runs.

Mushfiq skipped the T20 series against the West Indies in July and was rested against Zimbabwe in August.

His place in the T20 squad had been under scrutiny for many days after his repeated failures with the bat.

He scored his last T20I fifty against Sri Lanka in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.

He played 102 T20Is for Bangladesh and scored exactly 1500 runs at 19.48. In 23 of those matches, he captained Bangladesh, leading the side to eight wins.

Mushfiq is the second senior Bangladeshi cricketer to retire from T20I internationals in recent months after Tamim Iqbal.