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5 Entrepreneurial Lessons From Bangladesh Cricket Captain Masrafe Bin Mortaza

1-Never Give Up

There is no failure unless you give up trying. Masrafe Bin Mortaza is one of most frequently and badly injured cricketers and every time he managed to make a comeback just because of his never give up mentality. As an entrepreneur you will get it more than once, try again, and try some more.

2-Be Resilient

It has been mentioned over and over again by teammates, media, and even his physician that Masrafe has an incredible capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and it is something unique. As an entrepreneur you need to understand that there will be failure, shortcomings, and setbacks but your job is to stand up every time you fall back.

3-Captain Cheers

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is often referred to as the 'madman' of the team. He has this incredible capacity of cheering up and inspiring the entire group in a moment. Many believe that, if it wasn't for his injury, he would have easily played more number of matches as captain than any of his colleagues. As a captain of your team, you get understand your people and able to motivate them to get things done.

4-Sacrifice

Back in February, 2015, ahead of the game against Afghanistan, his baby boy, almost a year old, was diagnosed with typhoid. Just like any other father, Mashrafe was anxious and worried. He even thought of returning home. However, he eventually decided otherwise just to play the game and continued to urge his boys to give it their all.

There are founders who never took a single day of in years, and there are founders who work every waking hour. These are no myths. As an entrepreneur you get to learn to sacrifice at times and make your venture your being otherwise you will be ending up with something mediocre.

5-Think above and beyond, and know how to best utilize your resources

During the second game against India in recent series, Mashrafe took a gamble and bowled Nasir Hossain as an attacking off-spinner. The move paid off brilliantly. It was not something out of blow. He studied Indian batsmen and planned accordingly. Mashrafe was aware of India’s recent problems with off-spinners, particularly against Moeen Ali in England and Nathan Lyon in Australia.

"Actually before the India series I saw a statistic that in the last year they have been weak against offspinners. They have given most of their wicket to offspinners. So from that aspect, I think Nasir is one of the best offspinners for Bangladesh in ODIs. I had only one offspinner in my hand and I wanted to use him”.

Mohammad Ruhul Kader is a Dhaka-based entrepreneur and writer. He founded Future Startup, a digital publication covering the startup and technology scene in Dhaka with an ambition to transform Bangladesh through entrepreneurship and innovation. He writes about internet business, strategy, technology, and society. He is the author of Rethinking Failure. His writings have been published in almost all major national dailies in Bangladesh including DT, FE, etc. Prior to FS, he worked for a local conglomerate where he helped start a social enterprise. Ruhul is a 2022 winner of Emergent Ventures, a fellowship and grant program from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He can be reached at ruhul@futurestartup.com

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