END OF AN ERA

Mortaza to be replaced as Bangladesh captain after Zimbabwe ODIs

by Atif Azam • Last updated on

Mortaza captained Bangladesh in 85 ODIs: 47 won, 36 lost, 2 No Results © Getty

Mashrafe Mortaza's tenure as the ODI skipper will end after the upcoming three-match home series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Wednesday. Nazmul Hasan, the BCB President, also said that if Mortaza wants to continue playing for Bangladesh, he will need to pass the fitness test and "has to perform" to get picked from hereon.

"There might have been instances when Mashrafe played despite not passing the beep test but it will not happen now. If he wants to play, he has to perform and get selected in the team," Nazmul said.

"We need to make some changes in Mashrafe's case because earlier there was no such thing that a player had to pass the beep test but we have started that now."

Mortaza became captain for the second time in 2014, coincidentally, also against Zimbabwe. Overall, he captained Bangladesh in 85 ODIs, won 47 and lost 36 while there was a "no result" scenario on two occasions.

"We also need to consider Mashrafe's contribution in turning points of Bangladesh cricket; it is unparalleled," said Nazmul, who had a 51-minute closed-door meeting with Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque before coming face-to-face with the media.

"He was outstanding as captain but it is also true that now the time has come for him to decide on how long he wants to play," Nazmul added.

Nazmul also said that the replacement will be named in about a month's time as Bangladesh prepare for the next World Cup in 2023.

"For the World Cup, we cannot bring a (new) captain all of sudden. We have to decide on the team and captain with at least two years in hand. We need to come to a decision as we do not have much time. We will hopefully come to a decision on this within a month or so. We will have to wait at least till this series (ends)."

The retirement talks of Mortaza have been going around since the World Cup last year, but neither BCB nor Mortaza have been able to finalize anything. There were speculations that he might be given a farewell through the home series against Zimbabwe.

Earlier, Mortaza has decided to withdraw his name from the list of nationally-contracted cricketers for 2020, but insisted that he wants to continue playing cricket and isn't expecting a farewell.

''All the big players around the world plan, decide and inform when it's time for their retirement. We did wish to have something arranged for him if he wanted. We wanted to make some kind of arrangement to see him off. He can continue playing if he wants to. I am more worried about the captain at the moment. If we declare someone else as a captain now, and if Mashrafe can get into the team through performance, then there is nothing wrong with that."

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