Sanga happy to see Mustafiz in ICC ODI Team of the Year

Jannatul Naym Pieal

Kumar Sangakkara, one of the greatest cricketers of all-time, was included in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in three consecutive years in 2011, 2012 and 2013. After missing out the place in 2014, he once again made to the team of 2015 selected by a panel of cricket journalists and experts.

Playing 24 matches from November last year to March this year, the Lankan legend scored 1390 runs at 73.50. During this period of time, he smashed as many as six centuries; four of which came during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on consecutive occasions.

Taking in account the performance he delivered in the span of just four months, it was quite obvious that he would be among the best eleven ODI players of the last calender year. Still the wicketkeeper-batsman was a bit surprised to see his name in the recently published list.

“Quite frankly, I didn’t expect to be in the team. You all know that I have retired earlier this year. So the inclusion has come as a big surprise to me. Still I will take it, because it’s a great honour to be there,” said Sangakkara.

Though he was surprised at his own inclusion, he didn’t feel all the same when he discovered his Dhaka Dynamites teammate Mustafizur Rahman also getting included there. “It’s a great achievement for him. And he really deserved it,” believed Sangakkara.

“I am enjoying my time in the Dhaka Dynamites. It feels great to have someone like Mustafizur in your team. He is still very young. But I have seen the keenness to learn in him. I believe he will improve more and become an asset for Bangladesh cricket,” the batting maestro added on Mustafizur.