Mortaza will be standing for the ruling party, the Bangladesh Awami League, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina endorsing the bowler's foray into politics
Bangladesh's ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza will stand in the country's elections next month, the ruling party announced on Monday.
Mortaza will be standing for the Bangladesh Awami League, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina endorsing the bowler's foray into politics.
The 35-year-old enjoys a massive profile in his home country, and a spokesman for Hasina's Awami League said Mashrafe had been given the "green light" from the prime minister.
The election is set to take place on 30 December and Mortaza, who is affectionately known as the "Narail Express", will be contesting his hometown district Narail.
Mortaza will be running in his hometown of Narail
Though he has not commented publicly on his decision to run, cricketing authorities have said there was nothing standing in the way of active players taking part in politics.
"To run in an election is his constitutional right. If he wants to exercise these rights, we have no issue," Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.
"We expect him to keep the balance between his playing career and politics."
Cricketers moving into politics is not new in South Asia, with current Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan just one example. Former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya also made the move into politics while he was still playing in 2010.
Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.
Posted by David Rimmer on 12/11/2018 at 10:41
The list of cricketers or ex-cricketers dabbling or being involved with politics is endless. Reading Imran Kan's autobiography in the late 1980s was more fascinating for his views on non-cricketing items. One thing I will never forget was his anger that 60 per cent of Pakistan's spending was on defence and that so little was devoted to health. His anger at this came through strongly as it did on other issues. With his charisma and intellect it was no surprise he entered politics. Lord Home, who played briefly for Middlesex around 1920, was PM for just under a year in the 1960s. An Old Etonian, he later served as Foreign Secretary under Edward Heath. I wonder whether this gave David Cameron, another Old Etonian, of coming back as Foreign Secretary after being PM. There is a certain arrogant to his thinking. Shortly after skippering England to a 1-0 defeat in the 1964 Ashes Ted Dexter stood against Jim Callaghan in a Cardiff Constituency in the October 1964 election. Dexter predictably lost and went to South Africa to play under Mike Smith while the sitting MP Callaghan won and became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sri Lanka World Cup 1996 winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga, ever one for a scrap, is also involved in politics. These names barely scratch the surface in terms of cricket and politics.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.