The Bangladesh captain has dismissed talk of his possible retirement from the game at the end of the World Cup, saying that he hasn't given the matter any thought. He did, however, reiterate that this would be his last World Cup.
"This is definitely my last World Cup, but I will not be retiring after the tournament," Mashrafe, 35, told ESPNcricinfo. "I don't want to think about it at the moment, especially with the tournament still in progress. It is a distraction. People become emotional during these times. But if there's an instruction from the board, I will have to think about it."
If Bangladesh Cricket Board insists, he might think otherwise but for Mortaza it's definitely not over yet.
"I don't want to quit (international cricket) immediately because I want to play more," said Mortaza in a recent interview. "It is a different matter if BCB thinks otherwise but the board has not instructed me anything as such (regarding my retirement)," added the skipper.
"I have already announced that it will be my last World Cup so I wanted them [my family members] to come and watch me playing for the last time in the showcase event," he said pointing towards the arrival of his wife son and daughter along with his brother in England.
"Thinking about any such thing (retirement) will certainly distract me so I don't want to think about it at the moment as we are still very much in the tournament,'' said Mortaza.
Earlier, Mortaza had said that it will be his last appearance in a World Cup and since then there has been a lot of speculation going around on whether he wants to say good bye to his 18-year old international career following the tournament.
The fact that he doesn't want his team members to get distracted and pressurize them by announcing his retirement speaks much about his leadership skills.
"The focus of the whole team will be distracted because whatever they do they will say, that they want to do it for me (as I am retiring). I want them to play the tournament with a free mind and enjoy the tournament,'' Mortaza added. "People become emotional during such times and I don't want any such thing to happen."
Mashrafe, who became a member of the Bangladesh parliament earlier this year, has never actually hinted at retirement, but speculation has been rife about his future.
The move to politics, coupled with his hamstring problems - he has a history of seemingly career-threatening injuries - have only added fuel to the guesswork. But he has led his team well at the World Cup, where Bangladesh have seven points from seven games, and are in the race for the semi-finals.
Bangladesh don't have a lot of ODIs coming up in the next 12 months, although they play a lot of T20Is in the run-up to next year's World T20 in Australia. As for the World Cup, they have group-stage fixtures lined up against India (Birmingham, July 2) and Pakistan (Lord's, July 5).
A number of retirements from international cricket are on the cards by the end of 2019 World Cup. There have been players who have served their respective teams over the last two decades and one of them is Mashrafe Mortaza but the Bangladesh captain is not thinking of retiring immediately after the World Cup.
The present captain's performance in the World Cup has come under scrutiny due to the fact that he is not delivering like the way he used to do before. Mortaza's sponsorship deals might play a big role behind his decision of not retiring immediately after the World Cup as most of his deals run up to 2020.
Walton Group, who recently inked a deal with Mortaza as their brand ambassador, did not agree with this particular fact but indicated international cricketers always have a bigger brand value.
"It's true that a current player has a brand value but it depends on other things like his performance and off-field behaviour because it can diminish the brand value to a large extent if someone fails to live up to the standards," Uday Hakim, Executive Director of Walton Group said.
"We are not concerned whether he retires or doesn't when it comes to our contract that runs till 2020 because we did not sign the agreement just because he is a playing member of the team," said the Executive Director. "We believe his brand value will not diminish with his retirement," he added.
As for Bangladesh Cricket Board bosses speaking to him about his future, Mashrafe has their backing too.
BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus insisted that these retirement talks will hamper the team's performance during the tournament.
"Mashrafe Mortaza is leading the side very well, so we are not thinking of anything at the moment," Jalal Yunus said. "The decision is up to him, whether he wants to continue playing and leading the side or not. We leave the ball in his court".
" The board is fully focused on the World Cup, as we are now in with a chance to play in the semi-finals.
I think we should not talk about this retirement at this point of time
because it will only make them lose their focus at the middle of the tournament," said Jalal.
"We (BCB) haven't discussed anything about his retirement. At the moment we are totally focusing on the tournament and I request we
refrain from highlighting anything that can disrupt our progress,'' Jalal concluded.
