Retired Mashrafe capable of walking into Bangladesh's T20I team, reckons Ashraful

Mashrafe Mortaza returned to action after a long layoff with the BPL but given his form in the tournament, it's hard to imagine that he was away from competitive cricket for a while. The 39-year-old pacer is leading Sylhet Strikers from the front and with six scalps, the former Bangladesh captain has been the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far. 

Mashrafe's long-time friend and former teammate Mohammad Ashraful reckons that the former can still easily walk into Bangladesh's T20 side.

Mashrafe retired from T20Is way back in 2017 and has not played in ODIs since 2020. The veteran played his last Test match in 2009. Since his last game as captain of Bangladesh, he has fallen out of favours but continues playing the DPL and the BPL. Even at the twilight of his cricket career, Mashrafe is still capable of troubling batters with accurate line, nagging length and cutters.

"If you are talented, age is just a number," said Ashraful. "I think he can perform like this even at 50."

"It's positive and negative at the same time. He's bowling at a decent line and length at around 110 kph and a lot of our top players like Soumya Sarkar are getting out to him. So, it's a matter of concern. There remains a question whether they are improving or not," Ashraful added.

Even though the pace has gone down significantly, Mashrafe has managed to maintain a low economy rate (6.75). Ashraful said Mashrafe is capable of walking into the Bangladesh squad for the England series. 

"If you take performance into account, Mashrafe can still play. Mashrafe has done better than the young pacers. You have to call him up if you see his numbers."

Ashraful, 38, is likely to hang up the boots after a couple of domestic seasons. The former Bangladesh captain, who was banned from international cricket for spot-fixing, wants to remain with cricket after the playing career ends.