Mashrafe’s final press conference as captain

And just like that, the era of Bangladesh under Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as captain ended.

It ended on a high as the Tigers whitewashed their familiar foes Zimbabwe 3-0 in the one-day international series in Sylhet. 

Mashrafe was given a fitting farewell by the fans who came out in numbers and by his teammates as they gifted him a special jersey with all the players' signatures and a plaque by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Nazmul Hassan. 

For one Mashrafe, there was a sense of relief as his journey of carrying the weight of 16 crore people's expectations was relieved. 

"Feeling good to have won the final game as captain and also relieved because that's one less responsibility now," Mashrafe said, with a smile at the post-match press-conference. 

I enjoy watching Liton and Kohli bat the most

Opening batsman Liton Das scored a record-breaking 176-run innings and was the player-of-the-match and Mashrafe had high praise for him and believed that the big runs for Liton will now be a regularity.

"There are two players I enjoy watching most in cricket. One is Virat Kohli and another one is Liton Das. Liton can change the momentum and play a big innings. Now he has enough experience and now is the peak moment to score runs and he will do that I believe," Mashrafe said.

We will play the semi-final in the next World Cup

Mashrafe, Bangladesh's most successful ODI captain, winning his 50th match as captain in his final one as skipper saw the team going from strength to strength from here on in and have a good showing in the next ODI World Cup.     

"I believe Bangladesh will do very well in the next World Cup and play in the semi-final. One of the young players will be at the peak of their careers and since the World Cup will be in Asia, I see no reason as to why we won't do well," he said. 

Big responsibility on next captain's shoulders

Mashrafe explained that whoever became the next captain of the team needed to help the younger players out with the popularity, money and stardom that comes with being a cricketer for Bangladesh. 

He also expressed that a lot of the work as captain would have to be done off the field to keep the team together as a unit and help it grow.

"Leadership is good. But wanting captaincy or wanting to be captain is not a good thing. Selfishness can creep in as a result and I have seen that happen with our players at times. A lot of work has to be done outside the field and helping the players out with certain problems off the field also need to be done."

Mashrafe also added that it will be a big responsibility for the next captain of the ODI team and he hoped that the management would choose someone with a lot of international experience. "Whoever comes in as captain will have a big job on them. Their thinking will need to evolve by three times of how and what they are thinking right now. Winning and doing these press conferences is easy, but when you lose, how they handle the pressure is important. If someone senior took over from here as the next captain would be ideal since they are more familiar with these situations." 

I'm getting my confidence with the ball back

Mashrafe understood that he didn't have a great time with the ball during the World Cup but he felt he was bowling better in the series against Zimbabwe where he took four wickets.

He felt that he was gaining his confidence back in bowling and looking to contribute for the team in the future if the opportunity arises: "It's a series by series thing. The World Cup was really bad for me and my confidence. Now it's getting better again. It's a step by step process so let's see."

The media paints the whole picture

Mashrafe also acknowledged the job of the media and whether it was bad for the players or not: "Media is never your opponent. If you do well, the media will show that. If not, then that will also be shown. Media has played its part in creating us."

There should not be too much experimenting from the coach

And finally, Mashrafe finished off by hoping that the head coach and the new coaching staff would not experiment too much with the team and tinker just the things that needed changing for the better: For the new coach, it's not a time to experiment with the team. It's about changing a few things here and there to make things better for Bangladesh cricket. But obviously it's down to the board.