Mashrafe Mortaza quits BPL in the middle of the tournament to concentrate on politics

In a statement released by the Bangladesh Premier League franchise Sylhet Strikers, it was mentioned that captain Mashrafe Mortaza will be missing the rest of the BPL 2024 season due to political commitment.

The statement further added that Mortaza will be back in action if there is a break between political commitments and the schedule of the tournament. The franchise expressed their gratitude for the commitment of Mortaza to the franchise.

Mashrafe Mortaza has played a total of five matches for the Sylhet Strikers in the Bangladesh Premier League 2024. In the elections held a month back, Mortaza was elected as the Member of Parliament for the second time. His party Awami League has appointed him as the chief whip in the Parliament.

Mashrafe Mortaza set to miss the remaining phase of the Bangladesh Premier League 2024

The statement read, “Mashrafe will be available to play for the Strikers further in the season if there is an opportunity in between his political commitments and schedule. Sylhet Strikers franchise has extended gratitude to Mashrafe for his commitment to the team in the tournament so far and looks forward to have him back when he is able.”

Sylhet Strikers are not going through a decent run in the ongoing edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. The team has lost their first five games and is placed at the bottom of the table. Mashrafe Mortaza was seen struggling with his fitness throughout the BPL 2024 and it was also reported that he couldn’t prepare for the tournament. Mortaza batted in different positions in the team and also didn’t bowl at full pace in the tournament.

Interestingly, Najmul Hossain Shanto was not chosen as the captain of the team whereas Mohammad Mithun will be leading the side in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza. Shanto led Bangladesh recently and led the team decently. Sylhet Strikers are set to face Durdanto Dhaka in their next match.

In his 19-year-old career for the Bangladesh cricket team, Mashrafe Mortaza played a total of 310 games and ended up picking 390 wickets at an average of 35.02. Mortaza has picked up one five-wicket haul throughout his international career. Apart from being a brilliant bowler, Mortaza was also an impressive captain.

Under Mashrafe Mortaza’s leadership, Bangladesh saw a redevelopment of their team wherein they started to defeat big teams. This includes India, Pakistan, South Africa, England and many more. Bangladesh also performed well in the ODI World Cup 2015, wherein the team qualified for the quarterfinals.

However, the right-handed bowling all-rounder has not played a single match for the team since 2020. While he has already retired from T20I cricket in 2017, the latter is still available to play ODI cricket. However, his form and fitness is a major barrier for him to make a comeback into the team.

The Bangladesh cricket team didn’t perform well during the 2023 ODI World Cup and finished in the eighth position. The Bangladeshi team will want to return back to winning ways and once again impress with their performance against big teams.