Bangladesh limited-overs captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza stunned the cricket lovers of the country as he announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals on Tuesday.
Just before the toss of the first Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Mashrafee announced that the on-going
two-match series would be his final engagement in this format of the game.
‘It has been a great honour for me to represent Bangladesh in T20Is for more than 10 years,’ Mashrafee said on his official Facebook page before the start of the match.
‘I believe that this team is currently a balanced one and there are some promising young stars.
‘I am very much grateful to Bangladesh Cricket Board & high officials for keeping the trust on me to lead this fantastic team.
‘This is high time for me to say good-bye to T20 format so that many youngsters can get the opportunity to showcase their talent and thus BCB can nurture them for the future,’ said the statement.
Mashrafee made his Twenty20 international debut against Zimbabwe in 2006, the first ever game played by the country in shortest format.
He was not only a part of the first ever T20I played by Bangladesh, on November 28, 2006 but he was awarded the man of the match in that game by scoring 36 off just 26 balls before picking up a wicket to help Tigers by 43 runs.
Ever since, the 33-year all-rounder was an integral part of the Bangladesh T20 side barring injury and represented the national in 52 matches until Tuesday’s series opener.
Mashrafee led Bangladesh in 27 of his 52 Twenty20 internationals to win nine matches.
But he was hobbled by knee injuries during much of his career, forcing him to avoid Test cricket since 2009 and to undergo a series of operations in Australia.
However, his charismatic captaincy was the pivotal fact for transforming Bangladesh from a perennial loser to a force to be reckoned with.
Since he took the helm in 2014, Bangladesh reached the quarter-final of the World Cup for the first time in 2015 before beating three of the cricketing giants Pakistan, India and South Africa in consecutive series.
Under his captaincy, Bangladesh reached the final of Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament in Dhaka last year.
The speculation of Mashrafee’s retirement has been circulating in the cricketing circles since the New Zealand tour but Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan said that the decision would be taken by the player himself.
The board president also said during the New Zealand tour, when the speculation arises, that Mashrafee would retire in front of his home crowd but Tuesday’s announcement proved otherwise.
However, some of country’s cricket officials welcomed his decision to quit Twenty20 international.
‘It is very important to know the right time to quit the game,’ Bangladesh’s chief selector Minhajul Abedin told New Age over phone.
‘Mashrafee is the true legend of our game and he has made the right decision,’ he said.
He will now play his final Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka on April 6 in Colombo.
Mashrafee, however, is expected to continue in one-day international for few more days.
Source: New Age