Mashrafe says he’s not retiring after World Cup
He also added that any sort of retirement talk right now would be a “distraction” and he does not want to think about such things, especially in the middle of the World Cup.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has once again reiterated that he has no plans of retiring from cricket after the World Cup even though this will be his last one.
The 35-year-old has had a long history of knee injuries and surgeries which has rendered him unable to play Test match cricket for a while now and he has also retired from T20I’s in 2016, following a spat with the cricket board.
He is however playing ODI cricket and has earlier in the year expressed his desire to continue playing domestic cricket for a few more years.
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“This is definitely my last World Cup, but I will not be retiring after the tournament,” the right arm medium-fast bowler told cricket-based website ESPNcricinfo, on Friday.
Mashrafe did however add that if an instruction from the board came which asked for his retirement, he would have to “think about it”.
He also added that any sort of retirement talk right now would be a “distraction” and he does not want to think about such things, especially in the middle of the World Cup.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has backed Mashrafe to lead the side for the future: “He is leading the side very well, so we are not thinking of anything at the moment,” BCB director Jalal Yunus said.
“The decision is up to him, whether he wants to continue playing and leading the side or not. We leave the ball in his court,” he concluded.
