Last hurrah for captain Mash
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan put to rest the recent speculation surrounding the future of Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza by saying he would lead the team against Zimbabwe, but hinted that the series would probably be the 36-year-old's last as ODI captain as the board were contemplating the appointment of a long-term captain with the 2023 World Cup in mind.
Although Hassan did not write-off Mashrafe's chances to play for the national team after the Zimbabwe series, he added that the Narail Express would have to come through general procedures like any other member to qualify for a spot in the national team spot.
"Mashrafe will definitely lead the side in the Zimbabwe series and he will play if he is fit. However, we are not that strict over his fitness this time around but we also need to take a decision quickly on appointing a captain for the upcoming World Cup because we want to select a captain two years before the event," Hassan told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
"We don't have much time on our hands and I think we will be able to take a decision within the next one-and-a-half months. We are waiting until this [Zimbabwe] series is over and will take a decision after that. Whether he will retire or not is a personal decision and he can even play in future. We are worried about the captain at the moment. If we name someone else as captain then he can get into the team as a player through performances and there are no problems with that."
Hassan's stance on Mashrafe however hints that the board has given the Tigers' most successful captain special consideration by including him for the Zimbabwe series, specifically mentioning that the board will not be monitoring his fitness too strictly.
But that also raises questions about Mashrafe, who has been in poor form since 2019 World Cup -- where the pacer bagged just one wicket in eight games. He returned to competitive cricket after a long gap in the Bangladesh Premier League in November last year but his performances remained below par and that led to confusion about whether selectors would take his performances into consideration when naming teams.
When chief selector Minhajul Abedin was asked whether they had selected Mashrafe for the Zimbabwe series based on his performances, he said: "There is no question over the selection of a player if the board declares him as captain. The selection panel does not have a decision to make about that."
Although standard procedure in the selection policy suggests a player must first be eligible to be part of the team based on their performance, in Mashrafe's case it seems the board has kept his portfolio as captain ahead of recent performances.
Hassan paid tribute to Mashrafe's contribution to Bangladesh cricket but the BCB boss also said that the time had come for the pacer to think about retirement.
"There is no question about Mashrafe's contribution to Bangladesh cricket and his leadership is very important to us, but the time has come for him to take a decision on how long he wants to continue. There are a lot of things related to this," Hassan added.