Mashrafe Mortaza sports jersey number '00' in a BPL match

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza left everyone amused with his decision to don a jersey that was numbered ‘0’ during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2017 match between Rangpur Riders and Rajshahi Kings. When asked about this move, Mortaza said he was inspired by former Protea batsman Herschelle Gibbs who used to play cricket donning jersey that had ’00’ as the number.

At the end of the match, Mortaza was asked about his decision to pick a jersey with zero on the back. The real meaning behind it is the willingness to start from zero. “I was inspired by an interview of Gibbs that I read a few days back,” Mortaza was quoted by Cricbuzz. “There it was stated ‘start from zero again’ and honestly it was quite motivating.”

Changed from 20 to 00

“Initially I wore 20 and then later decided to keep the first part and began wearing 2. Now I am going back to the second part to complete the circle,” he said.

The right-hander, who is a cult figure in Bangladesh, also talked about the team’s forgettable tour of South Africa where they lost all matches to the hosts.

“As a professional, I cannot look back and hold on to it,” said Mortaza about the overwhelming defeats that Bangladesh suffered on the tour. “Today is a good day, tomorrow might be a bad one. We need to work so that we can make sure day after tomorrow is better,” said a philosophical sounding Mortaza.

The Rangpur Riders skipper is now ready to perform for his franchise in the BPL 2017 and get a fruitful result for the side. “How focused we are is important (more) than anything else. What I specifically want to do and achieve is (also) important. As a professional, you will have good and bad times. You need to take everything in your stride and make that count in the long run,” Mortaza concluded.

Under Mortaza’s captaincy, Bangladesh have enjoyed enormous success and rose to fame. Since the 2015 World Cup the team become an indomitable in familiar conditions.