HAPPY MOMENT

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza did not hav e the best outing against India but he had a happy moment when coach Steve Rhodes backed him to the hilt in the post-match briefing. Rhodes said: “First, this situation with the board and all this talk that’s been going on for the last two weeks or so, those really are questions for the board and questions for Mash to answer. I can’t really answer. We’ve also need to have a bowler good enough, capable enough to actually replace Mash. Everybody forgets that. We haven’t got too many of the taller, quicker bowlers, which is what we’re trying to get in Test matches. As soon as we find them and as soon as they’re starting to do well, I’m sure that we’ll be wanting to get them in the team. I’m sure Mash would be a little disappointed with that first over, but I actually thought it was a very brave decision to check himself off... But he did come back, and he did come back better. So he showed that he was clawing his way back. Mash is a very proud person, and I’m sure Mash will look at his performances so far and wish they were a little bit better, but having said that, he’s tried his hardest all the way through. The one thing about Mash is that he tries every single ball. He doesn’t know any other way. He’s had seven knee operations, and he’s had a fantastic, wonderful career of over 200 ODIs, and he has not stopped trying throughout all of those ODIs, I know that.”