‘Matter of pride’ to captain this Bangladesh
When captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza steps onto the pitch in the third ODI against the West Indies tomoorow, he will reach a new horizon, overtaking Habibul Bashar to become the captain to have lead the Tigers in most number of games. The skipper said that it is a 'matter of pride' to lead this Bangladesh team.
He already is the longest-serving Bangladesh captain after he took the reins of the side in 2014 again after a short stint in 2010. He will be leading Bangladesh for the 70th time tomorrow. Habibul Bashar had led Bangladesh for 69 matches. He reiterated then when he started captaining again, it was not with a lot of hope. Tigers were underperforming but more than that it was the skipper's own injury issues which had been difficult for him.
"When I started it was not with a lot of hope. Because I had gotten the captaincy before and gotten injured within 4-5 games and left for a long time. The next time, the outlook was the same – captaincy was never an issue with me; more important was playing for Bangladesh," he said during a press conference at Sylhet today.
"When I got it in 2014 I did not really think about my future, and even as a player I did not set anything for myself. I just thought that let it go as far as it can. But it has now been four years and it is of course a matter of pride for me and my family that I have captained Bangladesh for a long time. And if, inshAllah, I can take the field tomorrow I will have led the country in the most ODIs," he added.
Mashrafe is Bangladesh's most successful captain in ODIs, with Bangladesh winning 39 of the 69 ODIs they have played in under Mashrafe's leadership.
He said that the achievement is nice but for him it was more of an achievement to be part of this Bangladesh team.
"Of course it's a nice feeling, but for me it is more important that the eleven or 15 people that make up the team, being a member of that is also a matter of huge pride," he concluded.
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