Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has been announced as the captain of Dhaka Platoon for the upcoming edition of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL). The fast bowler didn’t feature for Bangladesh since the World Cup in England & Wales as he was injured during the Sri Lanka tour which took place just after the World Cup.
Mashrafe will be back onto the field after more than four months and he will get the responsibility of the leadership straight away. His performance in the recent past might have been below average, but none can criticise him when it comes to his amazing skills of captaincy. With the likes of Tamim Iqbal and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, it was a tough call for Dhaka Platoon to pick the captain among these three.
But in the end, due to Mashrafe’s extraordinary record as a captain in the BPL, it became a little easy for Dhaka to name their captain. He is still recovering from a back injury and started bowling at the nets from last Thursday. Mashrafe was seen bowling at the nets to his fellow team-mate Tamim Iqbal.
After observing him in the nets, Dhaka Platoon’s head coach Mohammad Salahuddin gave an update of his fitness and believes he will be able to play the whole tournament.
“I think he can play the whole tournament. I hope that he will perform. Today he bowled for the first time since his injury. There is a problem in his rhythm but I think that if he bowls for a few days then it will be sorted out. The main advantage for us is his experience. We can never deny that. When he will play, he will give 100 per cent effort,” he said.
Dhaka Platoon is the fourth team which Mashrafe will be leading after he led Dhaka Gladiators in 2012 and 2013, Comilla Victorians in 2015, and Rangpur Riders in 2017. He led each of them to the title at least once in this tournament. The fast bowler almost got unsold this season before Dhaka Platoon picked him as an extra player from the A+ category and the money will be paid by the team themselves, according to the rules of this season’s BBPL.
