Mash's best as captain
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said last night that the India series was full of achievements. It could have been a perfect end to a memorable series had they won the third and final game, but he said that what they already achieved against the second-ranked team was beyond their imagination.
"Nobody thought before the series that we would win the series 2-1. Maybe everyone thought we would be able to win one match. But overall the way we played, it was a deserving series win," said delighted Mashrafe.
"Most probably we have achieved everything that we wanted from this series and dreamt of this result," he added.
The way his team dominated in the first two games to take the series with one match in hand against the mighty Indians compelled Mashrafe to brand this success as the best under his captaincy and one of the biggest achievements in Bangladesh's cricket history.
And the Tigers skipper didn't hesitate to say that 19-year-old left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman was the biggest find for them. He showered praises on the baby-faced killer who dismantled the vaunted Indian batting line-up in the first two games to finish with 13 scalps to grab the player-of-the-series award.
"Mustafizur, the way he performed was unbelievable, you cannot compare that to anything. His performance was world class," said the inspirational skipper.
Mashrafe expressed his optimism over the wonder boy's long career in international cricket.
"I have been playing for the last 15 years and I have seen many players come and go. But I have seen a good thing in this boy [Mustafizur]. He takes care of himself a lot. When I went to the gym he was doing gym on his own so that's a good thing. He has to maintain himself right now. The team management should definitely think about how to use him and save him. But at the end of the day, keeping oneself fit is up to that individual, if he can continue doing that he can serve the team for a long time," hoped the captain.
The brand of cricket Bangladesh have been playing since the World Cup has already enthralled cricket fans around the world and Mashrafe said that Bangladesh were now ready to take the challenge to any part of the world, especially in the 50-over competition.
"Look every team struggle when they play abroad. The last World Cup was not easy for us because the conditions were different. I think the boys now got the confidence to do well in any part of the world," said a confident Mashrafe.
The Bangladesh captain admitted that the pressure was there with the expectations of a 'Banglawash'.
"I think in the last match there was more pressure. Because whenever someone wins a match, the pressure of the Banglawash comes. So the boys might have been under pressure. So yes the body language wasn't up to the mark but we have to learn from these aspects," he said.
But he still judged it as the best series.
"I think this is the best because if you exclude the World Cup, we never won a series against the first, second, third or fourth ranked team. So beating a ranked 2 side has to be the best."
The players will now get little rest as South Africa will arrive on June 30 and Mashrafe said that they should take this challenge.
"We have to take this schedule positively; everyone plays around the world like that."
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