Go ahead, Mashrafe!
It's surprising to see the audacious comments made one after another by the ex captain of the national cricket team, Mohammad Ashraful, since the early exit of the tigers in the just concluded T20 World Cup Cricket. The anger which the Bangladesh Cricket Board Director Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu expressed to the media the other day was not only a reflection of the his own sentiments, but also of people in general, those who love to see their team perform like tigers. Under the captaincy of Mohammad Ashraful, the performance of our national team had deteriorated a great deal to say the least. As a captain, Ashraful miserably failed to lead the team from the front on most occasions. I know Ashraful is a hugely talented cricketer but having a batting average of 23 from 139 ODI matches and that too by remaining an integral part of the team for more than eight years clearly illustrates his utter carelessness as a cricketer. The manner in which he got himself out by playing an extravagant shot during a crucial juncture of the match time and again proved his immaturity as a national skipper and batsman. Since he failed to do justice to his talent, it's very natural that people demanded his removal from the captaincy. But Ashraful probably had some other idea. In reply to Gazi Ashraf's comments, Ashraful said with confidence that he was still enjoying the captaincy despite the defeat to Ireland and that our performance in T20 world cup was not that bad actually since we had performed well in our practice matches! Ridiculous and shameful comments indeed! Moreover, in protest against the remarks of Gazi Ashraf Lipu, Ashraful got the other team members united on his side and even planned to protest against the BCB by remaining absent from the practice session! That did not happen finally, and BCB also took the correct decision by removing him from the hot seat without any further delay. Appointing Mashrafe Mortaza to the all important position of captain will definitely bring lots of positives in the days to come. We all know Mashrafe is a fighter and has the hunger and pride for performing for his country and his never say die attitude will yield a lot of positive outcome for our cricket in future. The only thing that made me upset was the gloomy face of Ashraful after the appointment of Mashrafe for this post. Ashraful should congratulate Mashrafe from his heart since Ashraful can concentrate more on his batting now because the burden of captaincy will no more bother him. It is indeed a good move by BCB and Mashrafe's fellows should get united under his leadership. We want to see the tigers roar once again. Go ahead, Mashrafe! Go ahead, tigers!
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