Mashrafe Mortaza tightlipped over questions on ODI retirement

Team Bangladesh were having a dream run in the Champions Trophy 2017 this year. Their run came to an end with a shattering 9-wicket loss to the mighty Indians in the second semi-final. Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza rued the fact that the team failed to connect the dots on the big day. In the post-match conference, he spoke at length about how things could have gone their way had they ticked their boxes right.

Mashrafe Mortaza cited that this was not the first instance when the Bangladesh team succumbed on a big occasion. They have all the skills and qualities that a top side needs to possess. However, when it comes to capitalizing on the big moments, they end up falling short.

He remarked that the team needs to introspect whether they were ready to defend a total as average as 264. Had they bowled better, perhaps they could have. But on the day, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were too much to handle for them.

“We have repeated these mistakes often in big matches. This was a match where we should have scored 330 but ended up scoring 264. We need to get mentally tough in these situations and when we come back next time, may be correct mistakes,” quoted Mashrafe Mortaza.

“May be quality and skill-wise we are not lacking but you need to get mentally tougher as to what needs to be done in big matches like these. We need to ask ourselves some questions as to whether we were ready to defend 264. May be that’s what we need to ask ourselves,” he added further.

On ODI retirment

When asked about his retirement plans, the Bangladesh ODI skipper chose to stay mum on the question. He said that he is enjoying his game at the moment. Hence, he might or might not play in the ICC World Cup 2019. “May be, may be not. I am still enjoying my game,” said Mortaza.