Don’t want the buzz to reach the dressing room: Mashrafe Mortaza
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12:00 AM, June 11, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:06 AM, June 11, 2019

Don’t want the buzz to reach the dressing room: Mashrafe

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (L) was perhaps trying to take Mahmudullah Riyad’s mind off all the talk surrounding his slow starts in the World Cup so far as he aims to keep all the negative talk far away from the locker room. PHOTO: BCB

Tamim Iqbal, with 59 runs from three innings in the World Cup, was the first to go to the nets at the Bristol County Ground in practice yesterday ahead of today's match against Sri Lanka. He had a long discussion with batting consultant Neil McKenzie, before having a net session.

By the time Tamim had finished batting, Mahmudullah Riyad, another member of the Big Five, was engaged in a lengthy conversation at a corner of the rectangular ground with skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. The conversation was an animated one, and while only of those two would know what it was, Riyad then proceeded to go to the nets propped up beside the centre wicket and hit the bowlers -- net bowlers and teammates -- all around the park.

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Along with Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, these five cricketers have carried the weight of the team's fortunes for much of the last decade, and it is understandable that failures -- like Mahmudullah getting off to slow starts in the defeats against New Zealand and England -- weight heavily, especially in the World Cup. 

"Seniors have a greater role at times. Seniors feel pressure on the field when everything is not going well," said Mashrafe during the pre-match press conference yesterday. "It's important that everyone is trying to give their best. In the first match, seniors performed -- Shakib and Mushfiqur scored – but juniors also played a role. It is a team of 11, everyone has a responsibility. Along with that, if the seniors can contribute the way they have done before, then it will be easy to win these matches."

While the team had a rest day the previous day, Tamim ventured to the indoor nets to face throwdowns, indicating how important it was for the left-hander to get going.

"We are all trying. Tamim has been the team's best batsman over the last four years. I think he is the one who feels the worst about not being able to give the team his best in the last three matches," Mashrafe said.

When asked about Mahmudullah's slow starts, Mashrafe was quick to protect his lieutenants. "To be honest, I am looking at things positively. I think everyone is okay mentally. We are all emotional and we want to get everything overnight. Players are like that too -- they want to play well in every match. Riyad has to play that way in every match, 'why is Tamim not scoring hundreds?' and such. Tamim also takes the field with that expectation. It is more important that this buzz does not enter the dressing room. Because if it does, there will be pressure. So the further they stay away, the more freely they can play."

"In the first match Riyad performed his role. In the last match [against England], he knows what he thought or maybe I will know if I talk to him, but if you see the second match [against New Zealand], he was going in the right direction, but got out when he was about to accelerate. And then some wickets fell quickly, so maybe Riyad should have played shots deeper into the innings, but he got out trying to do that. I would say the same of [Mohammad] Mithun. When you lose these things arise, if Bangladesh lost against the World XI it would have been the same."

FACTS

Tamim Iqbal is the highest run getter for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka. The stylish left-hander has amassed 645 runs in the 21 matches he played against the Islanders.

Mushfiqur Rahim's 150-ball 144 against Sri Lanka during the last meeting between the two sides remains the highest individual score by any player in either of the two team's current World Cup squads.

Bangladesh's largest margin of victory -- a 163-run win -- came against Sri Lanka when the two sides met during a tri-nation series in Dhaka in January 2018. 

Among the players in Sri Lanka's current World Cup Squad, Kusal Perera is the highest scorer for the Islanders against Bangladesh. The left-hander scored 262 runs in the nine games he played against the Tigers.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has scalped 26 wickets -- the most by any player on either of the sides' current World Cup squads -- in the 22 matches he played against Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka's ace pacer Lasith Malinga is just behind Mashrafe on the list with 24 wickets to his name despite having played 12 games less

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As successful as this tour of Sri Lanka by the Bangladesh cricket team has been, it has also been one marred by off-field controversies and more than a little cloak-and-dagger.

At various stages, manoeuvrings behind the scenes, which have barely ever stayed behind the scenes, have taken a life of its own as it tumbled through the media machine. There has been one constant in all of these off-field distractions -- Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan.  

The latest has been Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's retirement from the T20I format. Hassan yesterday took his well-worn place behind the microphones to address the issue and as usual, assumed a central role. “I had a meeting with Mashrafe, Tamim [Iqbal], Mushfiqur [Rahim] and Shakib [Al Hasan] day before yesterday [Monday night]," Hassan told reporters at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo yesterday morning. "I told them that they had such a contribution to the nation's cricket that barring a disciplinary issue, no one, not me, not anyone could drop them. They would have to make their own exit plans.”

Despite his proclamations that he only knew that Mashrafe would step down and was unaware of his plan to retire, the mention of 'exit plans' is something that might raise eyebrows. It has been learnt that the meeting mentioned above was not altogether savoury, and to avoid adding to the innuendo let it just be said that the whole matter could have been handled better when it came to dealing with a cricketer of Mashrafe's standing.

One has to wonder if someone like Mashrafe, who has lifted the country's cricket from the depths of despair in 2014, has to endure an unsavoury retirement from a format, what message this sends to even other senior players, not to mention juniors.

“It is more than what he is as a player. I made him captain in 2014, and he did not even play the previous year. I made him captain because there is something extra in him,” these words of Hassan may seem like praise for Mashrafe, but as far as pattern of behaviour goes, it also seems like Hassan taking credit for the decision to promote Mashrafe and the successes that it brought. One can imagine that it is not something that a proud player like Mashrafe would be happy to hear. 

Inserting himself into the middle of team dynamics is something that Hassan has been doing for a while, and it has happened a lot during this tour. He did it with Mahmudullah Riyad's exclusion from the team for the second Test, and also with Mehedi Hasan Miraz's eleventh hour inclusion into the ODI squad.

It will be difficult to name another board president in cricket who involves himself to this extent in the running of the team. “I would have gone home today [Wednesday] if we won yesterday, but since we lost I have to stay behind,” Hassan said before the press conference started.

He was more than ready to answer the rumour that has been doing the rounds that Shakib Al Hasan was to be captain in the T20Is. He denied that, saying that if Mashrafe had decided to quit before the second T20I, then Shakib as vice-captain would have had to lead by default. He also strongly denied the rumour that there was a plan to jettison seniors like Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim from the format.

Before that, however, he also said that there were plans afoot to keep separate teams with separate captains with four or five specialists in each format, something that he added could not be enforced because there are performers in the team who could not be removed.

Both of those cannot be true; if plans were afoot to have separate teams with separate captains, then Mashrafe could not have been the captain of choice in either ODIs or T20Is. If specialists were the order of the day, then some seniors, not just Mashrafe, would have to fall by the wayside. It is in such contradictions that Hassan has often dealt.

Hassan has overseen the convolution of the selection process to an extent that the captain was excluded from the decision and the team manager made his representative. He then went on to have major public and private say behind each decision. The public part is the problem. If decisions like bringing new players into a format are made, then it should be discussed behind closed doors and the change should follow a process, preferably not one that involves the board president making contradictory statements to the media.

“I told the coach not to disturb the team now, and to make a parallel team of developing players,” Hassan squeezed that in to the conversation. It undermines the coach, the captain, the seniors and also the equilibrium of the side. The most unfortunate thing is that it is coming from the highest official in Bangladesh cricket. 

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I am lost for words. I can’t believe what has happened. I can’t get my head around it. I thought it was gone needing 30 off 16. It has probably been the best day for cricket in this country. I feel like everything that has happened today is destiny.

Chris Woakes

England fast bowler.

 

I’m pretty lost for words,” he says. “All the hard words that’s gone in over these four years, this is where we aspired to be. To do it with such a game, I don’t think there will be another like this in the history of cricket. Jos and I knew if we’d be there close to the end, New Zealand would be under pressure. Not the way I wanted to do it, ball going off my bat like that, I apologised to Kane. We backed the new kid, Jofra Archer, the talent that he’s got, he showed the world today. The lads, in this one-day team, the Test team, my family, their support has been massive. Now I’m just looking forward to tonight, mate.

Ben Stokes

England all-rounder

 

We knew we would have to fire a few shots. Credit to England for the way they stuck at it. On another day the coin may have fallen our way. We’ll look back in a couple of years and say this was a pretty good experience. That’s the way we are as Kiwis, we get par scores and then scrap like hell. We don’t blast teams off the park.

Jimmy Neesham.

New Zealand all-rounder

 

Was pretty sure I was going to bowl it. Just had a chat with Morgs (starts chuckling) heart’s still racing, sorry. It’s probably the only tournament I’ve ever won in my life. From the beginning, the guys did so well. Would have been disappointed if we didn’t win. They’ve been a really good family to me.

Jofra Archer

England bowler

 

Hasn’t sunk in yet. What a finish that was. Hats off to the Kiwi boys. Over the moon.

Liam Plunkett

England bowler

 

I thought I’d seen everythign in cricket, and that game was just ridiculous. Hard to put it in words. We wanted to take it deep. We didn’t feel like the run rate would be an issue if we were both there in the end. A couple of good partnerships, we’ll chase this down. Trying to put pressure back on New Zealand. Don’t know what happened there in the end. Unbelievable.

Jos Buttler

England wicketkeeper-batsman

 

Massive commiserations to the New Zealand boys. Edges one way, edges another. The way the guys came back in the Super Over was fantastic, and Stokes was huge. To play at Lord’s is one thing, to play a World Cup final at Lord’s is something else.

Jonny Bairstow

England batsman

 

There’s not one person who has left the ground. This is exactly what cricket needed. In five or six years’ time, there’ll be kids in the street who were inspired by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.

Michael Vaughan

Former England cricketer

 

Don’t understand how the game of such proportions, the #CWC19Final, is finally decided on who scored the most boundaries. A ridiculous rule @ICC. Should have been a tie. I want to congratulate both @BLACKCAPS & @englandcricket on playing out a nail biting Final. Both winners imo.

Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian cricketer

 

I don’t agree with that rule ! But rules are rules congratulations to England on finally winning the World Cup, my heart goes out for the kiwis they fought till the end. Great game an epic final!!!! #CWC19Final

Yuvraj Singh

Former Indian cricketer

 

This game will go down as one of the best matches in history. Congratulations to @englandcricket on your maiden @cricketworldcup title. Never be down @BLACKCAPS, you fought like champions. #CWC19Final

Sir Vivian Richards

Former West Indies cricketer

 

England held their nerve under pressure. New Zealand will be devastated for the rest of their careers because they had an opportunity to win the World Cup. They’ll have respect for Eoin Morgan because England play incredibly brave cricket. They were beaten by a team that, when the pressure was on, they found a way to get across the line.

Brendon McCullum

Former New Zealand captain

 

I’m a wreck. I don’t know what to say. It’s completely unfathomable. The commitment, the effort, the drive, the determination, the hunger those guys showed under the upmost pressure, it was just extraordinary to watch. The greatest game of cricket in history! And it was in a Lord’s World Cup final.

Andrew Strauss

Former England captain

 

England have been the best side through this tournament, I believe, but today I think New Zealand were the best team. The rub of the green went to England. Just think about it for a second -- everyone said it was overcast, bowl first, but Kane Williamson had the courage to bat first and trust his game plan. They got a score and defended that score to a tie -- a deflection off Stokes’s bat for four, they win the game if that doesn’t happen.

Shane Warne

Former Australia spinner

 

I can’t believe it. England tied the match and then they tied the Super Over and then they win on countback. You go through seven weeks and it comes down to a bloke trying to dive in to try and win the World Cup.

Nasser Hussain

Former England captain

 

I am lost for words. I can’t believe what has happened. I can’t get my head around it. I thought it was gone needing 30 off 16. It has probably been the best day for cricket in this country. I feel like everything that has happened today is destiny.” -- England fast bowler Chris Woakes.

“Wow! It’s hard to sum it up. What a day, what a tournament. Everyone has done everything asked of them. We have performed under pressure, it was almost written in the stars for Ben Stokes. He’s had such a tough time, I’m so proud of him and pleased for him and his family.

Joe Root

England batsman

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While the players will say that they do not think about the rankings because it is an unnecessary source of pressure before and during a match, once Bangladesh rose to number six in the ODI rankings by beating New Zealand on Wednesday, ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza could not help but say that 'it was a very important match for us, we knew that if we won we would go up to sixth'.

It is important not just because it eases their passage to the 2019 World Cup, but also because it is a certificate of their true standing in world cricket as the sixth best team. They usurped Sri Lanka to get to the sixth position, and on the tour of Sri Lanka Bangladesh not only kept pace with their then higher-ranked side but at times the Tigers looked the superior outfit in the Lions' den. Bangladesh first gave notice of their ODI prowess by beating India and South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, but even then wins were upsets.

It was not until they beat New Zealand 4-0 at home in October 2010 that wins became more commonplace. Even then they had to rely on Sri Lanka beating West Indies in February 2011 for the latter to slide down and allow Bangladesh's results before that to lift them to number eight in the world. But since then it has been the Tigers' doing, and it is fitting that they have moved ahead of Sri Lanka on their own steam to rise to number six.

Mushfiqur Rahim (R) and Mahmudullah Riyad brought all their experience to bear to take Bangladesh home from a tricky situation in the last tri-series match at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP
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If things go as planned and injury does not sideline the country's most popular cricketer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza leading up to next year's ICC World Cup, Bangladesh might present an MP [Member of Parliament] at the global showpiece event.

And as a first step towards that lofty personal goal, Bangladesh's most successful ODI captain will appear at Awami League president's Dhanmondi office to collect his nomination paper today.

Mashrafe will contest the 11th parliamentary elections to be held on December 23 with Awami League ticket, said Md Abu Naser, senior information officer of the ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, yesterday. Although the party spokesman had also informed about another popular cricketer Shakib Al Hasan's bid for elections, the all-rounder, after having himself confirmed his willingness to run for the election during the day, backtracked on his decision later in the night. He informed Daily Prothom Alo late last night that he would not be buying nomination paper for the upcoming election.

Should there be no late twist in the plot, the impending introduction of Mashrafe in the cut-throat political field will be unique in the context that no other top professional player has previously contested Bangladesh's national election while still playing at the highest level.

Instances of top professional athletes contesting any national election are rare. Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, who also had a brief foray into professional basketball, is the only high profile athlete currently serving as a senate member of his country. Pacquiao is an exception to a general trend of athletes turning to politics only after their retirement from the sporting field.

Bangladesh has seen retired sports personalities becoming lawmakers, with national cricket team's former captain Naimur Rahman Durjoy, national football team's former captain Arif Khan Joy and footballer-turned-businessman Abdus Salam Murshedy currently acting as MPs.

Now that Mashrafe, who will arguably be the most important component in Bangladesh's first real shot at World Cup glory in England next year, will be running in the 11th parliamentary election does not come as a surprise. It was in the making for quite some time. Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal first made it public on May 29 this year.

"Mashrafe will contest the elections from Narail," Kamal, also a former Bangladesh Cricket Board president, said while briefing reporters after an ECNEC meeting. 

"Shakib will also be contesting the elections," Kamal had also said.

However, two days later, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader snubbed that suggestion.

"There is a surprise in nominating candidates for the next general election indeed but we do not want to comment over Mashrafe and Shakib in this regard before the next World Cup," Quader had said.

"I have talked to Shakib and I was told that they don't want to think about participating in politics and elections right now," added the Awami League general secretary at that time.

But as things stand at the moment the wind has changed. It may be a spectacular addition in ruling Awami League's campaign for a third consecutive victory in the national election, but the news of Mashrafe and Shakib contesting in the polls yesterday morning came as a surprise to the sports fraternity.

The reaction on social media platforms was intense, with the general notion that it would be a distraction destined to harm Bangladesh's build-up to the all-important World Cup.

Under Mashrafe's leadership since 2015, Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in the one-day format of the game. The Tigers made it to the World Cup quarterfinal in 2015. They have won more games than lost under Mashrafe since then, winning 38 of 55 ODI matches.

Besides, Bangladesh also made it to the semifinals in the 2017 Champions Trophy in England and reached consecutive Asia Cup finals, with the last one in Dubai where the Tigers suffered a last-ball defeat to India.

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A song dedicated to the Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza who recently retired from T20Is is making waves in Youtube.

The song was written by Robiul Islam Jibon, music was provided by Rumman Chowdhury and sung by Abrar Rahman Siam, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo. Robiul himself took the initiative to release the song.

“I wrote the lyrics about Mashrafe nearly two years ago. He was really impressed when I showed it to him.” Robiul explained. The lyrical video was released as Mashrafe announced his retirement from T20 cricket. The complete video will be released soon.

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