Former national skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza said on Monday that all is not lost for the Tigers despite losing the recently concluded one-day international series 3-0 against the West Indies in the Caribbean. ‘I don’t deny we played badly but that does not mean we will do it in the forthcoming World Cup,’ Mashrafee told reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
‘We need to prepare ourselves during the home series [against Zimbabwe] and also need to focus on club cricket [Dhaka Premier League] ahead of the World Cup,’ said Mashrafee, who returned home along with four other cricketers to make way for their replacements in the Test squad.
Bangladesh were in the driving seat in the first ODI after reducing West Indies to 34-5 before they let another victory slip from their grasp as they lost the game by three wickets at Grenada on August 21.
The Tigers were on top after Mashrafee’s beautifully bowled opening spell aided by two spinners Sohag Gazi and Mahmudullah to put West Indies under huge pressure before Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin took the game away with a 145-run sixth-wicket partnership.
West Indies never looked back from then onwards and won the next two one-dayers to complete a clean sweep of the tourists.
‘We just could not put in a collective effort,’ said Mashrafee
‘Someday we batted well while someday we bowled well.
‘Honestly we could not play to our potential while we failed to live up to the expectations,’ said Mashrafee.
However, Mashrafee believes that things will change for the better in future.
‘I think we are not doing badly in bowling department considering the performance of Al Amin along with Rubel [Hossain] and Taskin [Ahmed].
‘So when Sakib returns and if Razzak manages to get back into form we will be hoping to do even better,’ said the Narail Express.
Bangladesh Cricket Board raised question over the captaincy of Mushfiqur Rahim and is said to be mulling over option of appointing separate captains for the Tests and the ODIs.
They also nominated Mashrafee as the captain of the Tigers for the Asian Games in Incheon which also made him a top candidate for the post in the shorter-version, provided he is fit to play.
However, Mashrafee refused to think anything beyond the Asian Games though with each passing series he is going from strength to strength.
‘I think I did well in the last two series as I had the rhythm while there were few injuries,’ said Mashrafee.
‘I am not thinking anything beyond that and I am not told any such thing either,’ said Mashrafee.
-With New Age input
