Chief selector of the Bangladesh cricket team Minhajul Abedin Monday said the decision to drop Mashrafe bin Mortaza came from the team management and selection panel jointly, and that it has been taken focusing on the future of Bangladesh cricket.
The 37-year old right-arm pacer and former ODI skipper Mashrafe was not included in the 24-man preliminary ODI squad announced by Bangladesh Cricket Board Monday afternoon.
Mashrafe relinquished his captaincy armband last year after the home series against Zimbabwe in March.
Later BCB appointed Tamim Iqbal as ODI captain.
There was a lot of speculation surrounding Mashrafe’s future in ODI cricket as he has not retired yet.
And eventually BCB opted for young talents for the upcoming three-match ODI home series against the West Indies which will start on January 20.
“The team management has given us a specific plan focusing on the future and 2023 World Cup. After a lot of discussions, we (selection panel and team management) have taken the decision to drop Mashrafe focusing on the future of Bangladesh cricket and moving forward from now on. We need to give chances to young cricketers if we want to plan about the future,” former Bangladesh captain Minhajul briefed the media in a press conference at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
“Due to the pandemic we lost a crucial period in the last 10 months. We are starting afresh from 2021. We want to start well from the West Indies series,” he added.
Bangladesh Cricket Board have announced the preliminary squad for three match ODI series against West Indies
Posted by Sports Tribune on Monday, 4 January 2021
Minhajul also informed that he talked with Mashrafe regarding the decision of omitting him, and that they had a fruitful conversation and there is no chance of misunderstanding.
Minhajul also said Mashrafe informed him that he will continue playing domestic cricket.
When questioned whether Mashrafe can return to the national ODI side ever again, the chief selector said it will depend on his performance in domestic cricket.
“ I have spoken with Mashrafe about the decision of not including him in the ODI set-up for the next series. We had a detailed conversation. There is no chance of misunderstanding here. Mashrafe said he will continue playing domestic cricket. The matter of returning to the national team will depend on him. We can’t predict anything now, and how well he performs in the domestic league in future. So we will look into it later,” said former right-handed batsman Minhajul.
Mashrafe, the most successful captain in Bangladesh cricket history, has played 220 ODIs so far and taken 270 wickets.
The Caribbean side will arrive on January 10 for the three-ODI series and two Tests.
The three ODIs will be played on January 20, 22 and 25 respectively.
The first Test will be played on February 3 while the second and final Test will start on February 11.
