Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza has asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to give him two more months to take the final call on his ODI future.
Earlier, the Mashrafe Mortaza claimed that the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 would be his final CWC. However, he later claimed that he wouldn’t want to retire from international cricket immediately after the CWC 2019.
Mashrafe Mortaza is one of the greatest captains in the Bangladesh national cricket team history. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh qualified for the quarter-finals in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. In further, Bangladesh have achieved huge ODI success under his leadership.
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Even, just ahead of the CWC 2019, Mortaza-led Bangladesh won their historic first-ever multi-team international tournament. In the ODI tri-series in Ireland, where Ireland, Bangladesh and Windies participated, Bangladesh won that tournament.
However, despite managing a great start in the CWC 2019, Bangladesh failed to qualify for the semifinals. Moreover, Mortaza hugely disappointed with his bowling performances in that tournament. In CWC 2019, Mortaza picked up the only wicket in eight matches. The 35-year-old is also constantly battling with his fitness issue.
The BCB has recently demanded the clarification from Mashrafe Mortaza on his ODI future. The BCB is seriously focusing on building up a solid competitive team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
The board has allowed him the time to decide – BCB President on Mashrafe Mortaza’s request
Recently, the BCB members have talked with the present Bangladesh ODI captain. According to the BCB president Nazmul Hasan, Mortaza has requested to give him two more months to make a final decision. Hasan further added that the BCB had given the green signal on this matter.
The BCB president said, “We talked to Mashrafe about the matter and he has asked us to give him two months to make a decision on the matter. The board has allowed him the time to decide.”
After the conclusion of the CWC 2019, Bangladesh played a three-match ODI series against the hosts Sri Lanka. However, Mortaza didn’t take part in that away series.
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In next month, Bangladesh will host the one-off Test match against Afghanistan and a T20I tri-series along with Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. As per some media reports, the BCB has a plan to organise one-off ODI against Zimbabwe during this period and make it as Mortaza’s farewell game. However, the BCB members haven’t decided anything about this ODI match yet.