Mashrafe Mortaza

Mashrafe Mortaza

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Bengali: মাশরাফি বিন মুর্তজা) (born 5 October 1983 in Narail District, Jessore) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. 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 is considered one of the fastest bowlers produced by Bangladesh, usually bowling in the mid-80s mph (130s km/h), and regularly opens the bowling. He is a useful lower-middle order batsman, with a first-class century and three Test half centuries to his name. Mortaza's career has been hampered by injuries and he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles.

He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League; although KKR paid US$600,000 for Mortaza, he played just one match for them. Due to his international commitments, Mortaza has infrequently played for Khulna Division in Bangladesh's domestic cricket competitions. While he has represented Bangladesh 36 times in Tests and in 124 ODIs between 2001 and 2012 he has played only 11 first-class and 9 list A matches for Khulna Division in the same period. In 2012 he joined the Dhaka Gladiators in the newly formed Bangladesh Premier League twenty20 competition and captained them to the tournament title.