Published: Aug 17, 2019, 05:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 17, 2019, 05:12 PM (IST)
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday had sought clarity from Mashrafe Mortaza over his future as they look forward to build a team for the next ODI World Cup.
According to a report in the Daily Star on Saturday, the Bangladesh captain, who had a forgettable ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 with his bowling coming under harsh criticism, has requested the Board to give him two months for him to arrive at a decision about his future.
The report further adds that the BCB are planning to host a lone ODI against Zimbabwe either between the Test and tri-nation series or following the two series to give Mashrafe a grand farewell, but nothing concrete has been decided.
“We talked to Mahrafe 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,” BCB president Nazmul Hasan informed.
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BCB recently announced Bangladesh will host Afghanistan in a one-off Test, followed by a tri-nation T20I series involving Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in September. The Board are left in limbo over an exact date for Mortaza’s farewell as they had not received any communication from the captain regarding his future.
Talks about Mortaza retiring surfaced when Bangladesh played their third ODI of the home series against the West Indies in Sylhet in 2018, but he did not confirm rumours.
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Bangladesh will play their next ODI in Ireland in June 2020 while they are expected to host Sri Lanka in December 2020.
If the BCB have to organise an ODI against Zimbabwe for Mortaza’s farewell, it will incur heavy expenditure to the tune of around Tk60 lakhs [BDT] to cover up the logistical and other expenses.
