'Was disappointed with BCB's treatment', says Mashrafe Mortaza
Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza stated he was disappointed after the Bangladesh Cricket Board insisted him to retire. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Mortaza asserted he wanted to retire at Lord's during the 2019 World Cup. The 36-year-old stepped down as captain of Bangladesh cricket team across formats, earlier this year. He wanted to pass on the baton to youngsters. Here is what Mortaza said.
Mortaza said the cricket board was in a rush to bid him farewell. "It seemed there was a rush to bid me farewell and it was certainly hurting. Firstly, they had to arrange a match to bid me farewell and it was not a normal match," he said. "A bilateral series is something and arranging a special match in a hurry is something else."
"All I know is that I have given my life to cricket even though I was torn apart. If money was the main criteria, I could have done many things, more so when my career was troubled with so many injuries," added Mortaza.
Under Mortaza, the Bangladesh cricket team rose to prominence in the limited-overs format. His breakthrough series as a skipper came in 2015 when Bangladesh trounced a star-studded Indian side 2-1 in the home ODI series. He also led Bangladesh to two Asia Cup finals in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Overall, Bangladesh won a record 50 ODIs and lost 36 in his leadership.
Mortaza wants to continue playing despite stepping down as captain. "I don't know if there will be Dhaka League now or not. It will be my target and if not then what will be in front will be the target. I don't know what arrangement BCB has and where the players will play. Whatever opportunity comes, I will try to grab it," he concluded.
