A new record awaits Mashrafe
Mashrafe Mortaza
|| CF Correspondent ||
Mashrafe Mortaza will be playing his 70th ODI as captain when Bangladesh take on West Indies in the three-match series-decider. With the third and final match at Sylhet, he will surpass Habibul Bashar’s record of leading the Tigers in the most number of ODIs.
Mashrafe is already Bangladesh’s most successful captain in the 50-over format, registering 39 victories, whereas Bashar has 29 wins under his belt.
The fast bowler picked a knee injury in his very first match as captain when Bangladesh faced West Indies in a Test in July 2009. He returned to action in early 2010 but did not take on the captaincy role until July, during Bangladesh’s tour of England.
Mashrafe led the Tigers to their first-ever ODI win against England, before injuring his ankle later that year. He missed the team’s 4-0 triumph over New Zealand at home and was not restored as captain upon his return from injury.
First Shakib Al Hasan, then Mushfiqur Rahim led the Bangladesh team until Mashrafe took over the captaincy for a second time in 2014. He has never looked back since then and has skippered Bangladesh to overwhelming success, especially on home soil.
“It has been four years. This is a moment of pride for me and my family. I have been able to lead Bangladesh for a long time.
“If I take the field tomorrow, I will be the person to lead Bangladesh in most number of the ODIs. So it’s a nice feeling. But for me, it is important to be the one of the 11 performers of the team and it’s a proud moment for me to be a member of Bangladesh cricket team,” Mashrafe said.
