From the very
beginning of his career Mashrafe Bin Mortaza
dreamt of becoming one of the best crickets of
the world. Had the recurring injury not been
there, he could have fulfilled his dream much
earlier.
Mashrafe shares his
thoughts on his career after stepping into ICC
ODI bowler rankings' top ten slot.
Q: Now you
are in the 8th position of the ICC ODI bowler
rankings, how do you feel?
Mashrafe: It's like my dreams come true.
From the very beginning it was my dream and I
also told about it before.
Q: What does it mean to you?
Mashrafe: To me it is a great
recognition. Once upon a time we used to seek
tips from world's best players but now when I
see my name besides the players like Andrew
Flintoff, Mitchel Jhonson, it makes me proud and
confident.
Q: You were the highest ODI wicket taker
in 2007. What was your position in the ranking
then?
Mashrafe: I reached the 11th position,
just narrowly missed the top ten slot.
Q: Do you now aim to reach the top?
Mashrafe: Everyone wants to go to the
top. But now my only desire to hold a stable
position in world's top rankings and for this I
need to maintain consistency. Because I believe
if I play well, my position will be enhanced
automatically.
Q: Shakib proved that Bangladeshis are no
less than others. Don't you think that it is
possible for you to be number 1?
Mashrafe: Of course possible. Had it not
been possible, we could not have even reached
this present state.
Q: Shakib is at number one position among
the one-day all-rounders and in the sixth
position among bowlers. How do you rate Sakib's
rise?
Mashrafe: Look, Shakib has changed the
total cricketing scenario of Bangladesh in a
single push. I am not saying this just because
he has risen to the helm of the rankings. He has
unveiled a new world before us. There were so
many things that we believed to be quite
impossible. Watching Shakib it seems that
nothing is impossible, even to be the best in
rankings and perform consistently at the top
level. You will see him taking our cricket to a
new age.
Q: Two Bangladeshi bowlers
are now in world's top ten slot and earlier
Abdur Razzak was also there. What impression
does it give about Bangladeshi bowling?
Mashrafe: It proves Bangladeshi bowlers
are performing superbly on the field. The
accuracy of Bangladeshi bowlers started from
2005-06. Sometimes we were also below per. But
we are performing consistently from the tour of
Australia.
Now we will also get back Razzak and
we will become a threat for the rest of the
teams of the world.
Q: But the batsmen are
not as good as you are. They are far behind than what
the bowlers have achieved so far. Now you must want the
batsmen to make their way to top ten?
Mashrafe: You cannot treat the batsmen
separately. They must also have to perform well. Now
Premier League is going on. I hope the batsmen will
return to scoring spree. It's not that they must have to
take position in top ten slot but at least we need four
of them to be around 20th position. If we can achieve
that, you will see us beating any side of the world. I
hope we are not far away from that time.
