Captain Mashrafe’s lasting legacy

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza received a farewell no other cricketer in the history of Bangladesh previously got.

A signed jersey from his teammates, all of them wearing a specially-made jersey with the words 'Thank you captain' written in front and 'Masrafe' (the correct spelling of his name) at the back.

He also received a plaque from the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan as fans stayed back in the gallery to chant "Captain Mashrafe!," as loud as they could, in a moment that would make anyone teary-eyed.

The emotions from the media personnel also ran high as they also tried to get some of their shirts signed by the captain who was signing off on a winning note – his 50th win as captain.

It all continued on to the press-conference which was a long one and where he entertained questions from the media for a good 20 minutes, despite it being well past 11 pm at night.

The presser ended with a standing ovation from the journalists that had gathered there, many of whom he had been close with and been good friends with on and off the field.

It all encapsulated a person, who is now also a member of the parliament, who was and has been loved dearly by so many in the country in unison.

Bangladesh hardly has much positivity in the news on a daily basis but in cricket, they have found their respite where the people can unite to celebrate when the team does well.

Mashrafe, has been at the forefront of a team that had talented individuals, but needed direction and gelling.

When he took over the reins in 2014, Bangladesh were in the midst of a cricketing crisis with a World Cup in 2015 at Australia looming large.

Despite having the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad, the team wasn't getting the desired results.

The team needed that one person that could guide these players along with the upcoming ones and Mashrafe was the man that took to the task.

There wasn't much expectation from the team in the World Cup but the Tigers exceeded expectations and reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time in their history.

What followed then was a year glittered with home ODI series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa to cap off Bangladesh's most successful year in cricket.

But why was Mashrafe able to do so well as a captain?

He revealed a bit in his final press-conference as captain: "Having leadership is good. But wanting captaincy or wanting to be captain is not a good thing. Selfishness can creep in as a result affect your performance and I have seen that happen with our players at times. A lot of work has to be done outside the field and helping the players out with certain problems off the field also need to be done."

Mashrafe also added that it will be a big responsibility for the next captain of the ODI team and he hoped that the management would choose someone with a lot of international experience. "Whoever comes in as captain will have a big job on them. Their thinking will need to evolve by three times of how and what they are thinking right now. Winning and doing these press conferences is easy, but when you lose, how they handle the pressure is important. If someone senior took over from here as the next captain would be ideal since they are more familiar with these situations." 

What Mashrafe was speaking about was having a leader that could guide and inspire the team not just on the field, but off the field.

As has been the case countless times, Mashrafe, with seven knee surgeries had no qualms about throwing himself around in the field to save a run.

He had no issues in showing that, despite those injuries, and despite losing out on a yard of pace, he could bowl and evolve himself as a bowler and a player to an extent where he would still be among the wickets regularly.

And then the World Cup 2019 happened

This was expected to be Mashrafe's swansong as a player and as a captain but that didn't happen.

The World Cup in England was also expected to be one where the team would reach the semifinals for the first time as they had their most experienced outfit ever, but that didn't happen.

Mashrafe's performance with the ball was poor and apart from Shakib, and perhaps to some extent Mustafizur Rahman, no one else had a tournament worthy of note.

Issues between the players started to creep up as the captain failed to deliver the goods on the field and Bangladesh would crash out of the tournament, finishing eighth.

After that, it was this series against Zimbabwe, where even before Mashrafe had said anything the board president said it would be his last one as captain.

It went a bit pear-shaped from the World Cup for Mashrafe and he even lost his cool in the penultimate press-conference leading up to his decision about stepping down from captaincy.

It felt like he was being forced to give up the captaincy by the board rather than doing it on his own terms but he quashed those thoughts in the last presser.

Whatever the case may be there is no denying that it wasn't the fairytale ending that everyone would have hoped for.

However, he felt that he was gaining his confidence back in bowling and looking to contribute for the team in the future if the opportunity arises: "It's a series by series thing. The World Cup was really bad for me and my confidence. Now it's getting better again. It's a step by step process so let's see."

This is not the end of Mashrafe, but this was certainly the end of his era as captain and a leader that inspired a team to achieve never before seen heights.

His contribution to the team can never be felt through his wickets or his stats, but his leadership will certainly be missed and that will certainly reflect on the greatness of one Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

There will never be another like him.