The four consecutive wins over New Zealand in the recent one-day series may have taken Bangladesh’s cricket to a new height, but it also left at least one man nostalgic in the dressing room, recalling the sad old days.
Not many days ago, Bangladesh were at the receiving end of many consecutive defeats Mashrafee bin Murtaza in the current national side was only player to have taken the pain from the dug out.
At the time of his debut in 2001, Bangladesh were on a world record losing streak, which continued for about five years and 23 matches. Since defeating Pakistan in the World Cup in 1999, the Tigers in fact have not won any of their 47 games until March, 2004.
‘How can I forget those tough days? Today we have got much admiration from many corners. But those were the days when a little sympathy, especially from the international community, was very hard to earn,’ an emotional Mashrafee told New Age on Thursday.
‘It was very tough for us to be motivated for the games. Still we continued because we all love the game, have a great passion for it. It’s not that now we have become a great force to be reckoned with, but whatever we have achieved, it is for that passion,’ he said.
Mashrafee attributed it to the senior cricketers, who were at the heart of the side during that crucial phase and said it is them who bore the brunt of all criticism and still did not lose their passion.
‘Now we have got so much money for cricket. But at that time it was nowhere there. Still I have seen how hard our senior cricketers worked. They all did it just out of their love. I would like to thank Akram Bhai, Moni Bhai and Rafique Bhai. Without them we could not have reached this far,’ he said.
‘At that time in the dressing room we had a lot of fun because that was the only thing we played for. I was a junior player but all the senior cricketers used to take the initiative to make the dressing room comfortable for me.
‘Now we cannot be satisfied if the team does not win. Individual brilliance is meaningless if team loses. But it is individual performance that kept us rolling.
‘We just hoped these performances would come together someday and we would start winning matches, which is what happening now,’ said Mashrafee, the man of the match in Bangladesh’s first win on home soil against India in 2005.
‘We knew what the reality was and to be honest we were happy if we could take the match close. Now we even get depressed even when we lose to Australia,’ said Mashrafee.
‘I am lucky that I have seen both good and bad days of Bangladesh cricket. Even in the recent past an ordinary win would have made us euphoric. Now things have changed and we never get carried away after any win. Players know that it is their duty to win the match and they should not be complacent at any stage,’ he said.
