DOT Desk
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza will become the first Bangladeshi player to play 200 one-day international matches when he will lead the side in the first of three-match series against West Indies in Dhaka, reports The New Age. Mashrafee, who made his ODI debut in 2001 against Zimbabwe, played 199 matches so far in his career spanning 18 years and took a total of 251 wickets in the 50-over format.
Mashrafee, however, will still need to play three matches to touch the milestone for Bangladesh as he played two of his 199 ODIs for Asia XI against Africa XI in India in 2007.
The three-match ODI series against the West Indies was expected to be his last series at home after he decided to join politics recently and hinted at his retirement after the World Cup next year.
Busy with series preparation and overwhelmed by the mixed of reaction of his fans for joining politics, Mashrafee said he was not aware of the impending milestone.
‘I have previously said that these things don’t touch me. These are not very much important for me. The important thing is to win tomorrow’s [today’s] match,’ Mashrafee told reporters in Mirpur.
‘Obviously it’s a great feeling that I will be playing 200th ODI match for Bangladesh. People will say that you have played 200 matches for Bangladesh. Obviously it’s an achievement. From that point of view, I will obviously feel good.
‘But there is nothing more important than tomorrow’s [today’s] game…We have to win the match,’ he added.
Mashrafee, however, refused to confirm that the game is the beginning of his end at home.
‘It is really difficult to say. You can’t predict the future,’ Mashrafee said.
‘I have never made a mindset. I never have done anything by mind-set. Let’s see what happens in future,’ he added.
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