Mashrafe to lead BD in Zimbabwe ODIs

DHAKA: Bangladesh pace bowler Mashrafe Murtaza will lead the country in the forthcoming three-match one-day international series against Zimbabwe despite uncertainty over his future.

Mashrafe has not represented Bangladesh in any ODI since the ICC World Cup last year, and in January withdrew his name from a lucrative national team contract. But Bangladesh Cricket Board officials said he would skipper the side despite his apparent lack of commitment.“At this moment we don’t have a substitute for a captain like Mashrafe,” president Nazmul Hassan told reporters in Dhaka. “If he is not fit, that is another issue.”

Hassan said while Mashrafe’s captaincy was vital to the team, it was also time for him to decide his future. “We have to decide about our next captain very soon,” he said. Bangladesh will face Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI series from March 1 in Sylhet, before travelling to Pakistan in April for a one-off ODI series.

Mashrafe enjoys hero status in Bangladesh after taking the team from being international whipping boys to gaining respectability as a limited-overs side. The BCB wanted to give him a grand farewell last year when Zimbabwe last visited the country, but the player rejected the opportunity.