Zimbabwe series to be Mashrafe's last one as captain: BCB

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will be back to captain the national team against Zimbabwe in the ODI series for one last time as Bangladesh will look to the future for a new ODI captain with the World Cup in mind.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan confirmed while talking to the media.

"There is no substitute for Mashrafe as a Captain. Also, we cannot deny his contributions towards Bangladesh cricket and what his captaincy has brought for the team.

But the time has come to decide about his career. I think he will be available in this series depending on his fitness. We will also be a bit lenient about his fitness." said the BCB boss. 

Mashrafe captained the national side in the ODI world cup in England last year but opted out of the Sri Lanka series in July and Tamim Iqbal was the skipper for the Sri Lanka tour.

Rumours about his retirement came to the fray after the World Cup as it was speculated that he would retire after the home series against Zimbabwe. But, the BCB President says he changed his mind.

"Masharfe was supposed to make a decision about his retirement in the series against Zimbabwe at home. But, after the world cup, I saw he changed his mind and told the media something else."

However, the BCB President stated clearly that the Bangladesh team will look for a new Captain for in ODIs.

"We will decide on the new Captain in a month or so. We need to choose a captain who will lead us in the next World Cup. We have to wait to see whether Masharafe fits the bill or not."

But if the experienced pacer, who debuted in 2001 can perform, there will surely be a place for him in the team, according to Nazmul.

"If he wants to keep on playing, he can. But to get in the team he has to perform and pass the fitness test" he added.