The pressure of the Twenty20 game can sometimes make you forget an important day, and this is what happened to former Bangladesh captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza.
The paceman was completely unaware that Bangladesh went to play their World Twenty20 opening match against Afghanistan on Sunday on the seventh death anniversary of former all-rounder Manzarul Islam Rana.
Rana and fellow first-class cricketer Sazzaul Islam Setu died in a motorcycle accident on March 16, 2007 in their hometown of Khulna, a day before Bangladesh played an important World Cup match against India in the West Indies.
The tragic death left Bangladesh shell-shocked, but they did not talk about it until the match was over. Players burst into tears after they beat India – a win that has now become a part of Bangladesh cricket folklore.
Mashrafee, easily Manzarul’s best friend in the dressing room, won the man-of-the-match award that day to pay the best tribute to the late all-rounder.
‘Really I forget this today, I don’t know how I can do this,’ a perplexed Mashrafee said after the nine-wicket win over Afghanistan on Sunday.
‘If had known this earlier, I would have requested the skipper to dedicate our win to him again,’ he said.
Mashrafee made an important contribution in the win, claiming a wicket off the first ball. Unlike Trinidad, the man-of-the-match award this time went to Sakib al Hasan, who finished with 3-8.
-With New Age input
