Mashrafe didn’t retire from T20I: Papon

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan Papon on Friday said Mashrafe Bin Mortaza left only captaincy in T20I but he has not retired from the shortest format of the cricket, reports UNB.

"He (Mashrafe) quitted only captaincy in T20I. But he has not retired from the format. Mashrafe will be considered for the T201 team if necessary," Papon said while talking to journalists after receiving Bangladesh cricket team at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the morning.

"We told earlier that we are looking for separate captains for all the three formats of cricket and as a result Mushfiq is leading the Test team only," the BCB boss added.

Mashrafe, while talking to reporters at the airport, thanked all concerned for their support during last 15-16 years and assured the pressmen to meet them in the field again.

Bangladesh cricket team reached Dhaka from Sri Lanka in the morning after a 40-day successful tour.

However, world number-one all rounder Shakib Al Hasan flew to India from Sri Lanka to take part ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) for his team Kolkata Knight Riders.

Bangladesh drew 1-1 in two match test series as well as the three match ODI series as the 2nd ODI washed away by rain and carried out the same result in the two-match T20I series too.

On Thursday, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by 45 runs in the second and last T20I to level the series. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called Mashrafe to congratulate him for the victory and requested him not to quit T20I cricket.

Mashrafe, also known as 'Narail Express', announced his retirement from T20I during toss at the first match of T20 series.

"This is going to be my last T20 series for Bangladesh. I would like to thank BCB, my family and friends, team-mates and coaching staff. I would also like to thank my fans who really supported me in the last 15-16 years," the skipper said while talking to Dean Jones in the post-toss interview.

Soon after the announcement, the official Facebook page of Mashrafe carried a statement saying, "It has been a great honor for me to represent Bangladesh in T20I for more than 10 years. I believe that this team is a balanced one and there are some promising young stars. There were some bad and some good days as well. I always tried to make my fans happy. I am very sorry to each and every fan for not being able to make them happy in every match. Right now as a team we are playing good cricket. I am sure Bangladesh will keep on playing good cricket in the days to come."

"This is high time for me to say good-bye to T20 format so that many youngsters can get the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and thus BCB can nurture them for the future. Let me congratulate the new captain in advance and I am sure the best is yet to come," the statement added.

However, Mashrafe will continue as the ODI captain and his next assignment is a tri-nation series in Ireland, involving New Zealand as the third team. From there, Bangladesh will fly to England directly to play the Champions Trophy in June.

Mashrafe led Bangladesh in the most number of T20Is, winning 10 of those 28 matches. He played 54 games in the shorter version and took 42 wickets at an average of 36.35.