Tamim describe Mashrafee as a symbol of motivation
Image- Getty
||CF Correspondent ||
Newly appointed Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal said that giving confidence to his players that they can beat any team on their day was the biggest virtue of Mashrafee bin Mortaza, whom Tamim replaced as a leader.
Mashrafee, who stepped down from captaincy following the third ODI against Zimbabwe, is the most successful one day captain in Bangladesh history with fifty wins and also transformed Bangladesh one day team during his tenure as captain.
Under Mashrafee’s leadership, Bangladesh had beaten all highly ranked side and also qualified for a semifinal spot in ICC events.
"I think one of his greatest quality was how he kept on saying 'we can win, we can win', all the time. When he said we can beat India in the ODI series in 2015, it seemed impossible. They were the No. 1 side in the world [ranked No. 2 in ODIs at the time]. But he kept saying it, and that positivity spread around the team. Slowly we also started to believe that we can win,’’ Tamim was quoted in cricket website Cricinfo.
"I have played a lot of matches with Mashrafee bhai so sometimes it takes a bit of time to realize certain aspects of a particular individual but now I understood why this guy is so special during our 2018 West Indies tour,’’ he said.
‘’We were really down after the Test series. You can imagine the team atmosphere, but then when Mashrafee arrived for the ODI series, the whole mood of the team changed. Something just clicked within the team seeing Mashrafee,’’ he said.
‘’How he treated every player isn't something common for professional sports teams. You won't find it anywhere else in the world. But due to our culture, you needed a captain who would really take care of a player who is in poor form," he said.
