Mashrafe Bin Mortaza Biography- Hera@mh.com

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Bengali: মাশরাফি বিন মর্তুজা, born 5 October 1983) is a Bangladeshi international cricketer and politician who is the former captain in all three formats of the game for the Bangladesh national cricket team. Widely considered as the best captain for Bangladesh in ODI and T20 formats of all time, he became only the fifth bowler in the history to take 100 ODI wickets as a captain. Mortaza's career have been hampered by fifteen injuries as he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles. Mashrafe is also the first pace bowler in Bangladesh who bowled a delivery clocking over 148 km/h during a Test against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2001.

Early life and family:

Mortaza was born in the district of Narail in south-west Bangladesh. He enjoyed playing sports such as football and badminton from a young age, and sometimes went swimming in the nearby River Chitra instead of doing school work. He has been described as an open and animated character who enjoys motorcycling. He used to travel from a local bridge onto the tops of passing goods barges. He is very popular in his home town, leading to him being dubbed their "Prince of Hearts".

He completed his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) from Narail Government High School in 1999 and his Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) from Narail Victoria College in 2001. At Govt. Victoria College, Narail, Mortaza met Sumona Haque Sumi, whom he married in 2006. They have a son and daughter.

Mortaza obtained his bachelor's degree within the Department of Philosophy at the Jahangirnagar University in 2003–04. He was more interested in cricket as a youth, especially batting. In spite of this, his bowling is now his main attribute and his pace has gained him the nickname of the "Narail Express".

Political career:

Although he had never been involved in politics during his cricket career, Mortaza collected an MP nomination form for 2018 Bangladeshi general election on 11 November 2018 under Awami League's banner. In December 2018, he won a seat in parliament, with 96% of the votes in his constituency, Narail-2. He contested in the election from Narail-2 constituency and after the declaration of results he eventually won the seat by a huge margin by 2,71,210 votes from his rival.

In February 2019, he has become member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Youth and Sports Ministry of the eleventh Jatiya Sangsad.

International career:

Emergence:

Mortaza is one of the most successful pace bowlers to have emerged from Bangladesh. The pace and aggression Mortaza displayed as an under-19 player impressed Andy Roberts, the former West Indian fast bowler, who was acting as a temporary bowling coach for Bangladesh. Under Roberts' recommendation, Mortaza was drafted into the Bangladesh A team.

After one match for Bangladesh A (to date his only Bangladesh A match), Mortaza made his Test debut on 8 November 2001 against Zimbabwe in the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. Khaled Mahmud also debuted in the match, which was curtailed by rain and ended in a draw. Mortaza opened the bowling with Mohammad Manjural Islam and took 4 wickets for 106 runs (also written as 4/106) as Zimbabwe did not bat a second time. His first, also known as "maiden", Test wicket was that of Grant Flower. Unusually the match was also Mortaza's maiden first-class match; he was the 31st person to have achieved this, and the third since 1899. Mortaza also made his first appearance for Bangladesh's one day team on 23 November 2001 along with fellow debutants Fahim Muntasir and Tushar Imran. Opening the bowling with Mohammad Sharif, Mortaza finished with figures of 2/26 from 8.2 overs as Zimbabwe won the match by five wickets.He broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe and represented Bangladesh before having played a single first-class match. Mortaza captained his country in one Test and seven One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 2009 and 2010, however, injury meant he was in and out of the side and Shakib Al Hasan was appointed captain in Mortaza's absence. Mortaza used to be considered one of the fastest bowlers produced by Bangladesh, previously bowling in the mid-145s-148s km/h in the 2000s, and regularly opened the bowling.

Injury problems:

After the Test series against Zimbabwe and one against New Zealand, Mortaza missed the series against Pakistan in January 2002 as he was suffering from a back injury. While recovering, Mortaza suffered a knee injury while skipping and required an operation. As a result, he was unable to play cricket for a further eight months. At this stage of his career, Mortaza had played four Tests and taken 12 wickets at an average of 31.16.

Mortaza did not return to international cricket until the 2003 World Cup in South Africa during 2003. Bangladesh failed to progress past the round-robin stage, and he played in two matches collecting two wickets at an average of 38.00.

In October and November 2003, England toured Bangladesh for two-Tests and three ODIs. In the second Test, Mortaza took what at the time was his best Test figures of 4/60 before succumbing to injury, collapsing with a twisted knee after delivering the ball. Despite challenging England in the series, Bangladesh lost 2–0, Mortaza finished the series with 8 wickets at an average of 21.25. As a result, he was again out of international cricket; this time for over a year. Injuries in the first three years of his international career saw Mortaza only play 12 Tests and not more than four in a row.

Success:

Mortaza returned from his career-threatening injury and, after impressing in Bangladesh domestic cricket, he was selected in the 13-man squad to face India in a home two-Test series during December 2004. He announced his return to Test cricket in the first Test at Dhaka by dismissing Rahul Dravid. He bowled consistently in the series and nearly dismissed Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, but catches were dropped. Cricinfo noted that in the second Test he "toiled manfully again with wretched back-up". Mortaza finished the series with five wickets at an average of 37.00, although Bangladesh lost 2–0. In the following ODI series, Mortaza played an instrumental role in Bangladesh's 16 run defeat of India in the second ODI on 26 December 2004. He was awarded the man of the match for his all-round performance—taking two wickets, two catches and scoring 31 not out. The match was Bangladesh's 100th ODI and Mortaza's first one-day cricket in 15 months. Bangladesh went on to lose the series 2–1.

In January 2005 Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh, playing two Tests and five ODIs. Bangladesh won the Test series one Test to nil, their first series victory in Test cricket. In addition, Bangladesh's victory in the first Test at the MA Aziz Stadium was their first Test win. In the final innings of the first match, Mortaza took the ninth wicket and with victory imminent he struggled to bowl the next ball and had to wipe away tears and regain his composure before starting his run-up. Despite a sore back in the second Test, Mortaza continued to bowl. In the two Tests, Mortaza scored 93 runs at an average of 31.00 and took nine wickets at an average of 24.88. In a close ODI series, Bangladesh won 3–2 after being 2–0 down, Mortaza played in four matches and took four wickets at an average of 40.00.

Playing for Khulna Division against Sylhet Division in March 2005, Mortaza scored his maiden first-class century. Batting at number four in his team's second innings, Mortaza scored 132 not out from 140 balls; the innings far surpassing his previous best first-class score of 70, and was named man of the match.

Mortaza enhanced his reputation on Bangladesh's inaugural tour of England, and was the team's leading bowler, although his team lost the two-match Test series 2–0. He was by far the most economical of the Bangladeshi bowlers, conceding on average nearly half a run less per over than the next best bowler. Mortaza finished the series with four wickets at 49.50 and was the team's leading wicket taker. He consistently troubled the English batsmen, repeatedly beating the bat. A ODI tri-series followed in which Bangladesh recorded their maiden win against Australia. Mortaza's bowling was important in Bangladesh's huge upset against Australia in Cardiff, removing Adam Gilchrist for a duck and conceding 33 runs from 10 overs as Bangladesh won by five wickets. At the end of the tour, Mortaza was described as "Bangladesh's solitary cutting edge", underlining how important his bowling is to the team.

Mortaza was selected as a reserve player for the Asian squad in the inaugural Afro-Asia Cup. He was later drafted into the full squad as a replacement for the unavailable Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. With batsman Mohammad Ashraful, he was one of two Bangladeshi players in the 15-man squad. Sultan Rana, the Asia team manager, described Mortaza as "a very promising prospect, a terrific asset to the Bangladesh team". He played two of the three ODIs where he took Shaun Pollock's wicket in the first one.

Personal information
Full name	Mashrafe Bin Mortaza
Born	5 October 1983 (age 37) Narail, Jessore, Bangladesh
Nickname	Mash, Koushik, Narail Express
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm fast-medium
Role	Bowling All-rounder
International information
National side	Bangladesh (2001–present)
Test debut (cap 19)	8 November 2001 v Zimbabwe
Last Test	9 July 2009 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 53)	23 November 2001 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	6 March 2020 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	2
T20I debut (cap 4)	28 November 2006 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I	6 April 2017 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2002–present	Khulna Division
2009	Kolkata Knight Riders
2012–2013	Dhaka Gladiators
2015–2016	Comilla Victorians
2017–present	Rangpur Riders
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 36 220 54 57 Runs scored 797 1,787 377 1,458 Batting average 15.86 16.74 16.46 18.68 100s/50s 0/3 0/1 0/0 1/6 Top score 79 51* 36 132* Balls bowled 5,990 10,922 1,139 8,970 Wickets 78 270 42 135 Bowling average 39.52 30.93 34.01 35.05 5 wickets in innings 0 1 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 4/60 6/26 4/19 4/27 Catches/stumpings 9/– 62/– 10/– 24/–
Source: ESPN cricinfo, 10 May 2020

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