Mashrafe Mortaza makes peace with Subhashish Roy, urges fans to forget the incident

Rangpur Riders’ captain Mashrafe Mortaza has made peace with Chittagong Vikings’ pacer Subhashish Roy after the duo had a heated exchange of words during the seventh match of the Bangladesh Premier League. The Bangladesh ODI skipper Mortaza was seemingly disappointed with Roy’s attempt to have a go at him after collecting the ball in the follow through.

The incident took place in the 17th over of Rangpur’s innings when Roy bowled a well-executed yorker and saw Mortaza playing it out straight towards the bowler. Roy then pretended to throw the ball back towards the stumps, to which Mortaza gestured him to go back to his mark.

A couple of players from the Vikings’ team had to interrupt along with the umpires to settle things down. Mortaza’s side Rangpur lost the match by 11 runs. However, things look completely sort out now that Mortaza has posted a video where backed his national team-mate and requested everyone to leave the incident behind.

Mashrafe said in the video, “Assalamualaikum. I hope everyone is doing well. First of all, I want to congratulate Chittagong Vikings. They played well to beat us. Bat or ball, they played exceptionally outstanding cricket. We were unable to play well. Of course, at times we played well but overall, they deserved to win. Actually, the reason for me doing this video is because of something that has gone way beyond control.

“I want to say I have received a lot of love from people. I got a lot of things from them. But at the same time I think Subashish also deserves love because he too plays for Bangladesh. The incident that happened at the field, I have already said in the press conference that as a senior, I should not have reacted in such a way,” he added.

Watch the incident here

Subhashish is like my younger brother: Mortaza

Mortaza also offered an olive branch and said that Roy is like his younger brother and that he apologised to the young promising pacer and things should be left in the field. The skipper also lauded Roy for coming up the ranks after facing initial hurdles in his career and compared it to his own struggle.

“Because you can say it all started with me. Maybe he wanted to throw the ball but if I had not reacted, he might have returned to bowl the next ball. I have already said sorry. I think you guys have understood already. It is better to leave behind the things which happen on the field.

“At the same time, he is a very promising fast bowler. It is not like he has appeared all of a sudden and started playing. He has also overcome a lot of obstacles in order to play for Bangladesh. I am also doing the same thing. A lot of incidents take place on the field. We all treat them casually. I don’t know why [Wednesday] should be an exception. Obviously, he is my younger brother so I apologised to him,” he stated.

Mortaza congratulates Taskin, Vikings

Mortaza congratulated man of the match Taskin Ahmed and Chittagong Vikings on their win. Taskin changed the game with three wickets in an over (one being a run-out). The pacer ended up scalping three sticks.“I should not have said the things which I said. I should not have started it. Then maybe he would have been cool,” he said.

“At that time, both the teams were in with a chance of winning. Hopefully, you guys are understanding what I’m trying to say and mean. Please, this is my humble request, don’t take it further. Bring an end to this now. Subashish is my teammate, and my younger brother as well, so we should not remember these things.

“If you do extend this situation further, things might not be good for Subashish, as well as me. This is my request. And again, congratulations to Chittagong Vikings. Congratulations to Subashish for his brilliant bowling. And I would also like to congratulate the newly-married Taskin for his brilliant spell,” the Bangladesh ODI captain added.

“I hope your conjugal life and cricket career will blossom simultaneously. Thank you everyone.” During the post-match conference, Mortaza had said that being a senior player, he should have acted more calmly.