Our Test ranking will get better: Mashrafe

Mashrafe Mortaza has said he sees a bright future for Bangladesh, provided young players are given the right environment to develop. The limited-overs captain completes 15 years in international cricket on Tuesday, becoming the longest-serving international cricketer in the country`s Test status era.

Mashrafe, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in November 2001, said that the players also must remain eager to perform, and focus on hard work to bring out their individual potential.

‘I am sure that Bangladesh will achieve many things in the next 15 years,’ Mashrafe told ESPNcricinfo. ‘We have to take care of the players, and by that I mean we have to create an environment for them. We have to keep them in the right process. The players also need to remain hungry.

‘We will achieve things in 15 years that we cannot imagine now. But, for it to happen, we have to head in the right direction. It is not that we didn’t have talented players in the past, but they were wasted. There has to be hard work to make use of the talent. If we can do these things properly, we will get better.’

Mashrafe, who is seen as a vital cog in Bangladesh`s ODI success over the last two years, predicted that Bangladesh`s Test team would improve significantly, especially after having figured out a way to compete against teams like England, whom they beat in a Test match last week.

‘Our Test ranking will get much better in the coming years. We need to have specific targets since now we have also realised that we can win Tests in home conditions. We had done the same in ODIs, so I believe that the boys will do better. We will have a higher win percentage at home.’

Mashrafe added that a strong group of fast bowlers would also help the team when they played overseas, which should be part of their long-term planning. ‘We have good fast bowlers so we also have a better chance of doing well abroad. But there has to be long-term planning. Our coaching staff, including those in the High Performance programme, are preparing them to that tune.’

Meanwhile, senior batsman Tamim Iqbal said that Mashrafe’s presence had been a significant boon to Bangladesh cricket over the past 15 years.

‘In our Bangladesh team, Mashrafe bhai is the character who fulfills the team. He plays a big role by being the elder brother, friend and father figure,’ Tamim said. ‘He may be just five years older than most of us, but I see that many see him as a father figure. I know a lot of guys who will take the direction Mashrafe bhai tells them to.

‘His presence is very important. You cannot buy his character with a million dollars, nor by being the captain or a performer. He is such a character, everyone is drawn to him. I would say that his character played a massive role in raising our cricket to this stage.’

Source: ESPNcricinfo