Bangladesh’s ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said on Friday that he was relieved to end his tenure as a leader on the right note as he was keen not to make any mistake in his farewell game.

Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe by 123 runs in the rain-hit third ODI and clinched the series by a clean sweep at the Sylhet International Stadium.With that, Mashrafe completed his leadership stint with 50 wins from 88 ODIs.

Ahead of the last game, Mashrafe relinquished captaincy, but wished to continue playing.

”One responsibility has lessened. It was a huge responsibility. Someone feels bad, some feel good, I have a mix feeling. But I feel good that, I could complete in good position as captain. And finishing with a win makes me feels good,” Mashrafe said.

”I cannot say anything about selection. But you have to perform as a captain. And captaincy is a huge pressure, specially in international cricket. But when I am thinking of myself just as a player, in that sense, it is a very good decision for me,” he said

Mashrafe, who is regarded as Bangladesh’s most successful captain, believes that handling cricketers’ off-field issues are more important than guiding them inside the ground as his teammates tends to get distracted very easily.

”I don’t think there is much to do on the field, but off the field there are so many things to do with the players.

”I think they get disturbed by so many things. It could be from their family side, something might be popping up they might not want to see. Personal problems. Out form, not able to adjust with the coach, fitness issue. It varies.

“So it’s a captain’s responsibility to support him and also take the responsibility of the team. No matter how bad they play,” he said.

”I have seen many cricketers who could not perform because they were focusing entirely on their captaincy rather than giving focus to their game,” he said.

Though Mashrafe quit T20Is during the coaching tenure of former Sri Lankan cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha (in 2017), he reckoned he enjoyed leading the side the most during that phase.

“Many might think he [Hathurusingha] was the reason I had to quit T20Is but that is not the case. Even Jamie Siddons has played a big role as a batting coach behind the success of Shakib [Al Hasan], Tamim [Iqbal], Mushfiqur [Rahim] and others,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mortaza strongly believes that now isn’t the time for Bangladesh cricket to indulge in too much of experimentation and that the head coach should instead focus on getting the desired results.

”It’s not the time for us to do experiment, it’s the time to bring results. And whoever the coach comes if he does some experiment, that would not be good for Bangladesh cricket,” he said.

”You cannot afford to experiment for six months and then make a change and then expect them do well in two years. So management and the board have to see.”