Friendship will get deeper if we play in this series: Mashrafe Mortaza

Bangladesh’s limited-overs skipper Mashrafe Mortaza hopes that the England team will take part in the forthcoming tour as scheduled. There have been concerns over the tour after the Dhaka terrorist attack.

“I would tell all the players to come to Bangladesh,” Mashrafe said. “I can assure you that you can play cricket here wholeheartedly. You don’t have to think of anything else. It will be a competitive series. Our friendship will get deeper if we play in this series. It is not just about the game. There are a lot of things connected to this series. We are hoping that they would come here to play. From what I have heard, our security forces are giving it the highest attention. I have confidence in them since we have hosted many big tournaments in the recent past.”

Some England players including limited overs’ skipper Eoin Morgan also expressed concerns over touring the country at this particular point in time.

“As a player, I would urge for cricket to continue. These incidents are happening all over the world and if we postpone playing now, there will be a time when we would have to stop the game. We all have to keep our faith on the ECB team that visited recently as well as the two boards,” he emphasized the importance of the tour.

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“If some of the players have a friendly relationship, they may knock each other. But these things are mainly dealt by the boards, with whom we have to depend upon,” he said. “I believe that the ECB is taking it very seriously, and they will be satisfied with our security plan.”

Earlier, Australia refused to send their U19 players to Bangladesh, but it was not the case with England. “England has been with us from day one and I believe they will be with us now as well. They sent their team to the U19 World Cup.”

“I think steps can be taken through our player’s association because it does have an impact. Maybe our players’ body isn’t the strongest but I still feel that if there’s an opportunity, we can venture into that avenue too. A lot is at stake here,” he concluded.