Nazmul Hasan, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president said that he is looking to welcome former skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in a mentoring role for the national team. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, ODI captain Tamim Iqbal and the BCB president met at the president’s box during the second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Dhaka.
Tamim Iqbal has publicly stated in a Television program that he would be happy to have ex-skipper pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as a mentor during the next ODI World Cup in 2023 and was ready to talk with the board.
Former pacer and ex-skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza even spent a day with Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup, helping them out with grips and variations.
Nazmul Hasan: BCB Yet To Make Any Formal Proposal To Mashrafe Bin Mortaza
Nazmul Hasan said that the BCB is yet to make any formal proposal to Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who has a busy schedule as a member of parliament but is ready to involve him should he be interested.
“We haven’t discussed such a thing yet. But if he wants to join, certainly we will be happy to see him on board,” Nazmul told reporters on Saturday (December 11).
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, former Bangladesh skipper, last played for the country against Zimbabwe in 2020. Since then, he has found himself in the wilderness. He retired from T20Is in 2017. His last Test came in 2009 after debuting in 2001. He has played 36 Tests, 220 ODIs, and 54 T20Is, picking up 78, 270, and 42 scalps respectively.
Widely considered as the best captain for Bangladesh in ODI and T20 formats of all time, he became only the fifth bowler in history to take 100 ODI wickets as a captain. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s career has been hampered by fifteen injuries as he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles.
Nazmul Hasan Opens Up On Bangladesh’s Problems In 2021 T20I World Cup
Meanwhile, the BCB president said he isn’t too concerned over Bangladesh’s recent performances considering that the team is going through a transitional phase. Bangladesh ended up winless in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup and lost all three T20Is and the two Tests in the recently-concluded home series against Pakistan.
“The main problem is that many of our key players are not available. Even if they are available, they will retire once. We all know that. Nobody plays cricket for a lifetime. So we have to find out their alternatives. We have to find out the best replacement by watching the options,” said Nazmul Hasan.
“They (the selectors and the team management) asked for three months (after the home series against Pakistan) to see who fits where, and I cannot reject that. So a lot of things might happen in the meantime. I don’t want to disturb them now,” Nazmul Hasan said, hinting that the BCB is likely to change their stance on head coach Russell Domingo, having earlier stated that they were going to take a final call regarding his future in January.
Bangladesh shocked the cricketing world by defeating Australia 4-1 and New Zealand 3-2 prior to the 2021 T20I World Cup, but it came on their own turf, but overseas, they have only beaten minnows Zimbabwe, Ireland, and inconsistent West Indies in the T20I bilateral series.
The Tigers were one of the poorest teams during the recent T20 World Cup in the UAE, losing all their matches in the Super 12s.