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BCB president backs Mashrafe captaincy

Mashrafe Mortaza has received a vote of confidence of BCB president Nazmul Hassan to lead Bangladesh in the World Cup

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
27-Nov-2014
Mashrafe Mortaza celebrates the wicket off Nasir Jamshed  •  AFP

Mashrafe Mortaza celebrates the wicket off Nasir Jamshed  •  AFP

Mashrafe Mortaza has received a vote of confidence of BCB president Nazmul Hassan to lead Bangladesh in the World Cup. He was appointed captain for the ODI series against Zimbabwe after the captaincy was split across formats for the first time.
Bangladesh lead the five-match ODI series 3-0 with Mashrafe performing well with the new ball and Mushfiqur Rahim, who he has replaced as ODI captain, also doing well with the bat. Mushfiqur was removed from ODI captaincy after he led the team to 12 losses in the first 13 ODIs this season.
The BCB chief said that he was happy with the ODI captaincy status, and has a contingency plan if Mashrafe's injury worries catch up.
"The decision [to choose the captain] is not yet taken but I think we are doing well with two captains," Hassan said. "I don't see any reason to change things around. Possibly, he [Mashrafe] will remain the captain. Since he has a long history with injuries, Shakib has been kept as his deputy. Mushfiq is our middle-order mainstay and we don't want to burden him with batting, wicketkeeping and captaincy."
Mashrafe was later seen entering the BCB president's corporate office after the press conference, though he said it was for a personal reason.
The BCB president however said that they won't be sending the team to Dubai for a tournament which also involves Zimbabwe and several Associates despite the board agreeing principally last week.
"We had considered going to Dubai but we took everyone's opinion and decided not to go. We have informed them [the ICC] in a letter that we won't be taking part in the tournament. It will be risky to play in such a competition so close to the World Cup.
"After the current Zimbabwe series, the players will be busy in the Dhaka Premier League. So we don't want them to be too busy before the World Cup," Hassan said. "I have reports that Tamim Iqbal needs to rest, so we have to keep their fitness in mind as well. We have organised practice matches in Australia as we will arrive there early."
The decision means that the fifth ODI against Zimbabwe will be Bangladesh's last international game before the World Cup.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84