Ex-skipper Mashrafe Mortaza hits out at Bangladesh Cricket Board for forcing him to retire

Mashrafe Mortaza is one of the finest cricketers and captains to have represented Bangladesh at the highest level. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh cricket has attained greater heights as they have managed to find success in multi-nation events in the previous decade. However, a gutted Mortaza has come forward and said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had forced him to retire and that it was hurting.

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'That is the point': Mashrafe Mortaza

During his interview with a cricket news website, Mortaza went on to reveal that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was rushing to bid him farewell and it was certainly hurting and that was the point according to the veteran all-rounder. He then mentioned that firstly, they had to arrange a match to bid him farewell and it was not a normal match. The former Bangladeshi skipper then added that a normal bilateral series is something and arranging a special match in a hurry is something else.

Furthermore, Mortaza, who had led Bangladesh to two consecutive Asia Cup finals also added that his national cricket board was prepared to spend BDT Two Crores for his farewell match which according to him was not right from an ethical point of view taking into consideration that their first-class cricket players are not getting paid enough.

Mortaza's illustrious cricketing career

In his almost two-decade illustrious cricketing career between 2001-2020, Mortaza has played 36 Tests, 220 One Day Internationals and, 54 T20Is for Bangladesh. He had retired from the longest format back in 2009 and, the T20I format in 2017. As of now, Mashrafe had played what seems to be his final ODI in March 2020 against Zimbabwe. 
Under his captaincy, Bangladesh has made it to two straight Asia Cup finals in 2016 and 2018 respectively where they went down to India on both occasions. The iconic cricketer has also led the Bangladesh side to the quarterfinals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Coincidentally, it was the Men In Blue that ended their respective ICC campaigns as well.