Mashrafe wants to play Champions Trophy

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh ODI captain, has said he is willing to go the extra mile to play in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Bangladesh sealed a place in the eight-nation tournament after they moved up to No. 7 in the ODI rankings following the series win over India last week.

Mashrafe had hinted after returning from the 2015 World Cup that he would decide on his international future after the 2016 World T20 in India, but the recent successes against Pakistan and India have given him more reason to look further ahead.

"Even if it was not too seriously, I did have thoughts about the end of my career," Mashrafe told BDnews24. "I thought I wouldn't play for a very long time but now that we have achieved it [qualification for the Champions Trophy], why not work a little harder? Champions Trophy is second only to the World Cup.

"It would be good to play the tournament. It is hard to say anything concrete now but I feel a bit of pull towards playing in the Champions Trophy. I want to work harder, keep myself fit so that I can play till then."

Bangladesh last played in the Champions Trophy in 2006, which was their fourth appearance. They have won only one match in the tournament, but missed qualification in 2009 and 2013 for being ranked too low. Before the first ODI against India, Mashrafe had said qualifying for the Champions Trophy would be a "lifetime achievement" for senior players like Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.

While Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiqur have contributed at different times during this upsurge, Mashrafe has been credited with lifting the morale of a crestfallen team since taking over as ODI and T20 captain in November 2014, when the team was ranked No 9.

Mashrafe led Bangladesh through a 5-0 ODI series win over Zimbabwe and a World Cup campaign that saw them beat England on their way to a quarter-final spot. Even then, Mashrafe rued not beating New Zealand after running them close in the group stage, contending that a win would have given them more rating points. In April, Bangladesh moved above Pakistan after beating them 3-0 in the ODI series at home, and they climbed to No. 7 for the first time in their ODI history after they took an unassailable 2-0 lead against India.

Mashrafe was bemused by the disappointment in the country over Bangladesh not completing a 3-0 whitewash over India. The home side lost the third ODI by 77 runs.

"Everyone was saying before the India series that we should at least win one match," Mashrafe said. "That if we get two wins from the India and South Africa we can qualify for the Champions Trophy, which would be enough.

"We ended up winning the series by winning the first two matches. But after the loss in the third match, there was more talk about how we couldn't do the Banglawash than winning the series."

For Bangladesh to be among the top teams in the world, he contended, they would have to perform at their current level for an extended period.

"Listening to some people, it seems like we have won the world. The reality is, we are ranked at No 7 in the ODI table," he said. "India are still the No 2 side after losing to us, because they have been winning for a long time. If we can win for a longer period, we can reach that place."