If Shakib was the captain, Bangladesh would've reached semis in WC: Mashrafe

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had a tremendous world cup campaign in 2019. He scored 606 runs and took 11 wickets in World Cup 2019 in eight appearances for the Tigers. Even though his team couldn't reach the semis, Shakib's performance was hailed by some of the biggest stars of world cricket. 

Ex skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza mentioned during his exclusive interview with The Business Standard (TBS) that Bangladesh would've reached the semis in that campaign if Shakib was the captain. He even told this to some media personnel because he believed it.

It was circulated that Mashrafe had leaked some information about the team during the world cup. Mashrafe clarified mentioning the incident between Shakib and Riyad during the England match. He claimed that the media only spread the negative news and ignore the positive things that the players, especially, Mashrafe says. 

"After the England match in the World Cup, Shakib was a little upset about Mahmudullah's approach as he was trying to settle down rather than being aggressive. I told a few journalists that Shakib was upset. Then I spoke to Mahmudullah for a long time and explained to him how it needs to be done. So when that news was all over the media, why did Shakib and Mahmudullah not react? Because they know exactly what happened." 

This news was published in the media in such a way that it felt like Shakib and Riyad had some kind of conflicts among themselves and there were rumours that Mashrafe told some journalists about it. There was a massive reaction to that. 

"I even told some of the media personnel that if Shakib was the captain, Bangladesh would've qualified for the semis. I really believed it. But that never became news," said Mashrafe. 

Mashrafe had a terrible world cup campaign on the other hand. So it was quite understandable why he thought this way. But no one really talked about this back then.  

Mashrafe now questions who is leaking all the inside news now that Mashrafe is far away from the dressing room.

"A few days ago, Shakib gave a statement where he said that he was upset regarding the fact that news has been leaked from the dressing room. Now I am not here. Who is leaking all these? I was waiting for this day," Mashrafe concluded.