Zimbabwe series set to be Mashrafe's last as captain

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been making captains of the team series by series.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will lead the upcoming ODI series as captain against Zimbabwe.

BCB President Nazmul Hassan Papon confirmed this. He, however, strongly hinted that it would be the 36-year-old's last series as captain.

Papon said, “If he wants to play, he can play. I am more concerned about captaincy. When we declare another captain and he can get into the side through his performance, then it's fine. But the captaincy will be decided in a matter of months.”

BCB President told this to the reporters at the BCB headquarters in Mirpur on Wednesday.

"My thinking is Mashrafe will play the Zimbabwe series if he is fit but with the next World Cup in mind, we can't just give the captaincy to someone at the last minute before that. We will be able to give a clear-cut decision on the matter in a few months," he added.

"The deadline is at most one to one-and-a-half months. We have called a board meeting and we will decide soon," he said.

Bangladesh's next ODI series is in Ireland in May.

Mashrafe has not played for Bangladesh since the World Cup in England last year. He was injured for the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka last year and through niggling injuries, he played the BBPL this year. His performances have fuelled questions regarding his ODI retirement ever since the World Cup.

Dhaka/Yeasin/AKA