Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has claimed that the country's cricket board tried to push him into retirement after a couple of disappointing series.

See Also: Bangladesh drops Mortaza, Shakib from central contract list 

Hurt by the "lack of respect" towards his achievements, Mortaza further revealed that he was even offered a farewell match.

"Honestly speaking, it seemed that there was a rush to bid me farewell and it was certainly hurting," Mortaza told Cricbuzz.

"Firstly, they had to arrange a match to bid me farewell and it was not a normal match - a normal bilateral series is something and arranging a special match in a hurry is something else," he said without divulging when exactly the game was offered to him.

"Secondly, they were prepared to spend BDT 2 crore for that match. From an ethical point of view it is not right considering our first-class cricket players are not getting paid enough," he added.

Mortaza had a very poor outing at the 2019 World Cup, where he claimed only one wicket from eight games.

Questions were raised over his ability to lead the team in the 50-over format and things reached a tipping point when coach Russell Domingo recently said that Mortaza is not in his plans going forward.

"All of a sudden there was this rush to push me (out). All I know is that I have given my life to cricket even though I was torn apart and bleeding inside.

"If money was the main criteria, I could have done many things, more so when my career was troubled with so many injuries," Mortaza said.

The 36-year-old also expressed surprise at the criticism directed towards him despite the fact that he never succumbed to the temptation of money even when he was offered crores by now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) back in 2007.

"I didn't even go to play in ICL when I had an offer of BDT eight crore. I didn't do that. I have played cricket by giving my life and maybe I could not become such a great player. But at least I expect some kind of respect."

He didn't want to divulge the details but Mortaza confessed that he thought of calling time on his international career after Bangladesh's last World Cup fixture against Pakistan at Lord's.

"I wanted to retire after the last game in the World Cup but it did not happen. I don't want to go into the details of why I didn't do it there but I had put forward my intention (of retiring) in England," he said.