Mashrafee touches new height

Bangladesh one-day international skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza on Monday added a new feather to his crown as he became the highest wicket-taker in a single edition of Dhaka Premier League.
The 34-year old pacer, who was playing Abahani Limited in the ongoing DPL, surpassed Abu Hider’s last year’s record of 35 wickets on the same day against Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity in Mirpur.
Mashrafee, who had a phenomenal run in the ongoing league, needed only one wicket to create the new record in the league that was enlisted as List-A competition in 2013.
The right-arm pacer dismissed Khelaghar opener Robiul Islam in the ninth over of their innings when they were defending a target of 242 runs to achieve the landmark and also finished with 3-32 that took Abahani only one step away from league title.
With one match to remain in the Super League, Mashrafee stood at the top of the highest wicket-taker’s list with 38 wickets in 15 matches with an average of only 14.21.
‘Before the start of the tournament, I knew that I would be able to play all the matches as I’m not playing Twenty20s now,’ Mashrafee told reporters in Mirpur after his team Abahani registered a 127-run win over Khelaghar.
‘It wasn’t my plan but I wanted to prepare myself better for the tournament. The league was crucial for me to prepare myself for the next one-day international series,’ he added.
Mashrafee claimed a five-wicket haul twice in the league while taking four wickets in as many deliveries against Agrani Bank in a first round match on March 6 at Fatullah.
It was quite normal for fast bowlers to keep their shoes off at his age but Mashrafee had hardly any time to think about these things.
Mashrafee claimed that his long experience helped him make a difference.
‘If you talk about my game, experience did not matter. But it helped me manage power. This is something that you can achieve only through experience,’ he said.
Mashrafee was also very impressed with the local pace bowlers, who have done well in the ongoing league.
‘If you look at the highest wicket-takers list, many of the fast bowlers have done well in this year. I have heard that four out of five top wicket-takers are fast bowlers. This is a great sign for us,’ he said.
Mashrafee, however, was yet to emulate his best year in List A cricket as he claimed 49 wickets in one-day internationals in 2006, the highest in ODIs by any bowler in the year in that calendar year.
With six ODI wickets under his belt this year and nine months still left, he is just few games away from surpassing his own record in List A cricket in 2018.