Should Mashrafi retire from test cricket?

[LateCut]

It may not be popular to raise it but I have one suggestion. Do whatever is needed to treat Mash so that he is no more in pain. However, in my opinion, trying to rehabilitate him back to his old self is a futile effort. It highly unlikely that he will regain his form as a strike bowler he once was. With so many operations and fragile physical structure, frequent injuries will continue to hunt him. Best he can hope for is to become a limited over specialist. That is say that he should play only in ODIs. (Even T20 may be problem judging from his recent IPL performance.) Sooner BCB and he realizes this the better it is. We should be focussing on the newer crop of pace bowlers and make sure they do not succumb to injuries so frequently. We have limited resources (and agree or not limited talent pool) and we should make the best use of it. Mashrafi is a lost cause as a durable test player but BCB should fulfill its obligation to him in terms of treatments he needs to pursue a regular life. But BCB has tolook elsewhere to fill this massive void left by Mashrafi the player. This may be a difficult decision for BCB and Mashrafi but this has to be considered in earnest. Mashrafi himself must show the courage and take the first step. I cannot but point to Flintoff as a case in point.

[Raynman]

As brave as Mash has been over the years, I don't want to see him do anything that will be determental to himself and possibly the team just because he feels the responsibility to do so.

After this recent injury and procedure, I don't have too much expectations of him and I hope the selectors use good judgement and keep him away from the national team if he is not fit enough to contribute significantly. I would rather the next batch get their shot in that situation.

As for retirement, thats totally up to him and what he thinks his legs/knees are capable off. Personally, I think he should focus on lilmited overs (ODI/T20) for a while. With the KKR payoff from last season, money should not be his driving motivation for the immediate future.

[IanW]

Hell No. Remember DK Lillie !

[Nadim]

NO......ru kidding?

[mahbubH]

We should give more emphasis on the test cricket as people remember the performance of test cricket more than other formats. We also need good performance in test cricket than the other teams to stop people questioning our test status. Performing in test cricket is the most important at the moment and we don't get many chances of playing test cricket these days. So whenever we get a chance of playing test cricket, we should try our best to have a good performance.

Mashrafee is the most experienced bowler of our team. If his form is good, we should not think of leaving him out of the test side. Our pacers are way below compared with the spinners in terms of the quality, we need Mashrafee for at least another 2/3 years in test cricket. I don't mind if he plays fewer ODIs to play all the tests (we will not play more than 4 test matches per year). Mashrafee is a too good bowler compared to other pacers. Hope he will regain his fitness soon.

[Ahmed_B]

হুম্‌ম্‌...খুবই জটীল সমস্যা!
মাশরাফীর করুন অবস্থার কথা পড়তে পড়তে চোখে পানি এসে গেল...আহারে বেচারা...

ps. This is professional international cricket! Survival of the fittest is the rule here. Bottomline: he has to be upto the mark in terms of quality as well as fitness...otherwise...well..int'l cric is not for him (or anyone else for that matter)!

[IanW]

Remember, unless you win the World Cup, no-one gives a damn about the shorter versions

[mahbubH]

Originally Posted by IanW
Remember, unless you win the World Cup, no-one gives a damn about the shorter versions

yes.

[abz..+]

Should Mashrafi retire from test cricket?
no wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[beshideshi]

we saw the depth[read shallowness] of our pace bowlign dept without mashrafe in tests against WI B team. you cant say the pitch was not helping the seamers, roach bagged heaps of wicket in the same pitch.
So without Mashrafe, we dont have a decent bowling line up now. So, no way should he retire from test/odi/t20/five5 or any other form of cricket. He may take a well deserved rest, but should come back. And knowing Mashrafe, he wont give up. He WILL come back inshallah

[WarWolf]

Welcome back Bashir bhai.

[One World]

Rephrase:

Remember, unless Ponting wins the Ashes, no-one gives a damn about the shorter versions

[Fazal]

Unpopular, but very good and appropriate thread.

I am also suspecting with great sadness that the days of Mashrafee as an opening TEST bowlers are close to over. I don't think it's good for Mashrafee or for the team to let him play TEST with less than 100% fit.

If we are careful, I am hoping that he can still contribute in ODI and may be T20. TEST is a different kind of beast for FBs. No FB should be included unless he is 100% fit to play for 5 days.

Unlike other countries and other sports, most of the cases our players tries to avoid the inevitable i.e. time to retire solely based on financial reasons. Most of them may not yet financially secured and don't have a good alternate option after their career as a national player. That’s why retiring from TEST and still playing in ODI and T20 may be a viable solution for both: for an often injured FB and for the team.

[Tokai]

Test is way more important than ODI. If it comes to that, retire him from all other form of the game and only play him test. But I think there is no need to be worried. He will be fine for another 2/3 years and then another another operation and he will go on.

[LateCut]

I see that this thread has struck a raw nerve! I was half expecting this. I wish I had a poll open also. But I do not know how to do it.

Can any of BC God's add this to this thread?

Should he retire from test.
Retire from shorter versions.
Retire from all forms of cricket.
Tought it out as long as it possible.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by LateCut
I see that this thread has struck a raw nerve! I was half expecting this. I wish I had a poll open also. But I do not know how to do it.

Can any of BC God's add this to this thread?

Should he retire from test.
Retire from shorter versions.
Retire from all forms of cricket.
Tought it out as long as it possible.

I'm hardly a God, but there you go.

[LateCut]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
I'm hardly a God, but there you go.

But you are! Thanks.

[WarWolf]

No...Why would he?

[auntu]

Originally Posted by warwolf
welcome back bashir bhai.

আহমেদ ভাইয়ের দীর্ঘ শীতনিদ্রার ভঙ্গের সাম্ভাব্যতায় কি আপনি কিঞ্চিত উল্লাসিত?

[ma_o_mati]

it's his call...i think he is a young man and fighter and he will come back stronger...

[Rifat]

I don't think he wants to and neither do we...

I put red arrows btw...

[wiseshah]

Originally Posted by LateCut
But you are! Thanks.

its not right to compare someone with God, even our prophet (Sm) didnt like to compare him with God.Its kind of shirok (kufri)

i voted yes to your poll, we need fit mashrafe in world cup. test is too much pressure for him, so ODI and 20/20 is good enough for him.

[LateCut]

Originally Posted by wiseshah
its not right to compare someone with God, even our prophet (Sm) didnt like to compare him with God.Its kind of shirok (kufri).

I was not comparing to The All Mighty God! I was calling him one of the BC Gods. This word (God) comes from Latin/Greek word "Deus". This means deity. There are zillions of deities that has nothing to do with monotheistic God we beleive in.

[Eshen]

I agree with LateCut. Mashrafe's Test stats are poor, ODI is where he is valuable. It's just logical for him to step away from a format where he does not make much of a difference, to play longer in another format where he is needed most.

[Murad]

yes he should retire from Test and concentrate on ODIs only. He is not a good T20 player as well.