Mashrafe: Next captain should be long-term
Mashrafe went on to thank the board, the players and the fans for their support.
Bangladesh's most successful one-day international (ODI) captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has decided to step down from captaincy after the third ODI against Zimbabwe.
"I am stepping down as the skipper of the Bangladesh ODI team, I am retiring from the position. Tomorrow's match against Zimbabwe is my last as captain. I will try to do my best as a player if I get the opportunity," Mashrafe said.
Mashrafe added, "I give my best wishes to the next captain. I believe that Almighty willing he will take Bangladesh cricket team to the next step. If I am in the team, I will try to help him to the fullest with the experience I have gained over the years."
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Mashrafe went on to thank the board, the players and the fans for their support.
"I thank the board for letting me be the skipper for this long. I thank all the players who have played in the Bangladesh team under my leadership. I am sure this journey of 5-6 years has not been easy. I thank everyone in the team management, under whom I have played, I have captained, they have helped me dearly throughout the time. My captaincy started with Chandika Hathurusinghe, then there was Khaled Mahmud Sujon, Steve Rhodes and now it ends with Russell Domingo. I thank everyone in the board for their overall co-operation. I also thank the media, you have helped a lot. And last but not the least, I thank the supporters of the Bangladesh team. You are the heart of Bangladesh cricket, nothing could have been possible without you," he expressed his gratitude.
The 36-year-old also spoke about who could be the next captain of the ODI team.
"The next captain will be one that leads the team to the 2023 World Cup, not short-term. It won't be someone that gets dropped after a few poor performances I hope. The way I have been given a long stint as captain, I hope the same happens for the next captain too. All the positives and negatives should be weighted out before coming to a decision."
Mashrafe spoke about some of the good moments as captain: "There are obviously lots of good memories as captain and as a member of the team. There are good and bad memories I have to add, which we bear as players all the time. All the players were beside me all the time. But there are none in particular that I can point out at the moment to be honest."
