Mashrafe Mortaza is widely regarded as the greatest captain for Bangladesh in ODI and T20 formats of all time.
102 Facts About Mashrafe Mortaza
2.
Mashrafe Mortaza started this test debut against Zimbabwe in 2001.
3.
Mashrafe Mortaza impressed Andy Roberts, who was then coaching Bangladesh and was drafted into the Test side - in his debut first-class game.
4.
Mashrafe Mortaza was the 31st person to have achieved this and the third since 1899.
5.
In 2006, Mortaza was the world's highest wicket-taker in ODIs, collecting 49 wickets.
6.
Mashrafe Mortaza was the Man-of-the-match in the match against India in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
7.
Mashrafe Mortaza took four wickets that game and knocked out India from the group stage.
8.
Mashrafe Mortaza was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for $600,000 in IPL 2009.
9.
Mashrafe Mortaza was appointed captain after the 2009 T20 World Cup.
10.
Mashrafe Mortaza was to debut as captain when Bangladesh toured West Indies and Zimbabwe, but an ankle injury forced him to hand over the captaincy duties to Shakib.
11.
Mashrafe Mortaza suffered a tear in his knee ligament, which forced him to miss the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
12.
In 2016, Mashrafe Mortaza led Comilla Victorians to win their first BPL title in 4 years.
13.
Mashrafe Mortaza's captaincy led Bangladesh Team to become the runners-up of the Asia Cup two consecutive times but lost to India in both.
14.
Widely popular in his country, Mashrafe Mortaza was ranked as one of the world's most famous athletes on ESPN World Fame 100 in 2019.
15.
Mashrafe Mortaza became only the fifth bowler in history to take 100 ODI wickets as a captain.
16.
Mashrafe Mortaza's career has been hampered by fifteen injuries as he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles.
17.
Mashrafe Mortaza was born in the district of Narail in south-west Bangladesh.
18.
Mashrafe Mortaza enjoyed playing sports such as football and badminton from a young age, and sometimes went swimming in the nearby River Chitra instead of doing school work.
19.
Mashrafe Mortaza has been described as an open and animated character who enjoys motorcycling.
20.
Mashrafe Mortaza used to travel from a local bridge onto the tops of passing goods barges.
21.
Mashrafe Mortaza is very popular in his home town, leading to him being dubbed their "Prince of Hearts".
22.
Mashrafe Mortaza completed his Secondary School Certificate from Narail Government High School in 1999 and his Higher Secondary School Certificate from Narail Victoria College in 2001.
23.
Mashrafe Mortaza was more interested in cricket as a youth, especially batting.
24.
Mashrafe Mortaza is one of the most successful pace bowlers to have emerged from Bangladesh.
25.
The pace and aggression Mashrafe Mortaza displayed as an under-19 player impressed Andy Roberts, the former West Indian fast bowler, who was acting as a temporary bowling coach for Bangladesh.
26.
Under Roberts' recommendation, Mashrafe Mortaza was drafted into the Bangladesh A team.
27.
Mashrafe Mortaza's first, known as "maiden", Test wicket was that of Grant Flower.
28.
Mashrafe Mortaza made his first appearance for Bangladesh's one day team on 23 November 2001 along with fellow debutants Fahim Muntasir and Tushar Imran.
29.
Mashrafe Mortaza broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe and represented Bangladesh before having played a single first-class match.
30.
Mashrafe Mortaza captained his country in one Test and seven One Day Internationals between 2009 and 2010 injury meant he was in and out of the side and Shakib Al Hasan was appointed captain in Mashrafe Mortaza's absence.
31.
Mashrafe Mortaza did not return to international cricket until the 2003 World Cup in South Africa during 2003.
32.
Mashrafe Mortaza returned from his career-threatening injury and, after impressing in Bangladesh domestic cricket, he was selected in the 13-man squad to face India in a home two-Test series during December 2004.
33.
Mashrafe Mortaza announced his return to Test cricket in the first Test at Dhaka by dismissing Rahul Dravid.
34.
Mashrafe Mortaza bowled consistently in the series and nearly dismissed Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, but catches were dropped.
35.
Mashrafe Mortaza was by far the most economical of the Bangladeshi bowlers, conceding on average nearly half a run less per over than the next best bowler.
36.
Mashrafe Mortaza finished the series with four wickets at 49.50 and was the team's leading wicket taker.
37.
Mashrafe Mortaza's bowling was important in Bangladesh's huge upset against Australia in Cardiff, removing Adam Gilchrist for a duck and conceding 33 runs from 10 overs as Bangladesh won by five wickets.
38.
Mashrafe Mortaza was selected as a reserve player for the Asian squad in the inaugural Afro-Asia Cup.
39.
Mashrafe Mortaza was later drafted into the full squad as a replacement for the unavailable Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.
40.
Mashrafe Mortaza played two of the three ODIs where he took Shaun Pollock's wicket in the first one.
41.
In September 2005 a back injury meant that Mashrafe Mortaza had to return home from Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka before the start of the first Test.
42.
Mashrafe Mortaza returned to the Bangladesh side in February 2006 for a series of ODIs against Sri Lanka.
43.
Australia visited Bangladesh in April 2006 and Mashrafe Mortaza played the whole series.
44.
Mashrafe Mortaza guided his team home with a 43 not out, farming the strike to protect the Bangladesh tail.
45.
Mashrafe Mortaza's figures are the best in ODIs by any Bangladesh cricketer.
46.
Mashrafe Mortaza recovered in time to play in all three of Bangladesh's matches, taking two wickets at 50.50, as Bangladesh failed to progress beyond the first round.
47.
When Bangladesh beat New Zealand in a warm-up match before the World Cup, Mashrafe Mortaza produced what was described as a "fine all-round display".
48.
Mashrafe Mortaza took four wickets and scored an unbeaten 30 off 16 balls to ensure victory by two wickets.
49.
Bangladesh progressed to the second round of the tournament, and Mashrafe Mortaza played in all nine of the team's matches, taking nine wickets at an average of 35.88.
50.
Mashrafe Mortaza was selected for the Asia squad to play in the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup, a three-match ODI series, replacing Pakistan fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
51.
Mashrafe Mortaza played in both of the Tests, taking seven wickets at 26.85 and finished as the team's leading wicket-taker.
52.
Bangladesh were undefeated in the three-match ODI series, with Mashrafe Mortaza collecting four wickets at 22.75 and a man-of-the-match award.
53.
Bangladesh lost all three matches, and although not missing a match, Mashrafe Mortaza failed to take a wicket.
54.
Mashrafe Mortaza was told that he can continue bowling for up to a year, but then he will require minor surgery to drain the fluid.
55.
In September 2008, Mashrafe Mortaza was approached by the Indian Cricket League to join the newly formed Dhaka Warriors.
56.
Mashrafe Mortaza turned down the offer, asserting that his main priority was to play for Bangladesh.
57.
When New Zealand toured Bangladesh in October 2008, Mashrafe Mortaza was part of Bangladesh's maiden ODI victory against New Zealand.
58.
Mashrafe Mortaza was forced to miss out on Bangladesh's warm-up match due to a sore back, but played in all the Tests and ODIs, taking two expensive wickets in each series.
59.
Mashrafe Mortaza's starting price was US$50,000; the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Kings XI Punjab were involved in a bidding war over Mashrafe Mortaza, driving up his price.
60.
Preity Zinta, a stake holder in the Kings XI Punjab team, said "Mashrafe Mortaza is a great player, an all-rounder and we wanted him".
61.
In June 2009, the BCB relieved Ashraful of the captaincy so that he could focus on his batting and Mashrafe Mortaza was appointed captain for the tours of the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
62.
Mashrafe Mortaza's captaincy was off to a winning start in his first Test in charge when Bangladesh beat the West Indies.
63.
Mashrafe Mortaza's injury persisted, and he did not play competitive cricket from his injury in July 2009 until February 2010.
64.
Mashrafe Mortaza took temporary exemption from Test cricket in 2009 due to continuous back injuries for an indefinite time and have not played any test match since.
65.
Once his knee had recovered, Mashrafe Mortaza suffered another setback when he was prevented from playing against New Zealand in February 2010 due to a fever.
66.
Mashrafe Mortaza made his comeback from injury in a match for Bangladesh Cricket Board XI against England during their tour of Bangladesh.
67.
Mashrafe Mortaza said that if his injury problems persisted he would contemplate retiring from Test cricket to focus on ODIs and T20s, similar to fellow fast bowlers Shane Bond, Shaun Tait, Andrew Flintoff, and Brett Lee.
68.
Mashrafe Mortaza declined to play in the Test series to avoid aggravating his knee injury, but played only the first out of the three ODIs against England before withdrawing from Bangladesh's squad as he was about to be dropped.
69.
Bangladesh lost the one match Mashrafe Mortaza played in, and the captain criticised his bowling.
70.
Mashrafe Mortaza needs some time to get back to full confidence and rhythm.
71.
Mashrafe Mortaza needs to play some games and get match-fit again.
72.
Mashrafe Mortaza continued to struggle for form in the 2010 Asia Cup, held in June, taking just two wickets in three matches at an average of 77.00.
73.
Mashrafe Mortaza took over from Shakib Al Hasan who had stepped down after a dip in form.
74.
Mashrafe Mortaza finished as joint-lead wicket-taker for the series with five wickets, equal with England's Ajmal Shahzad.
75.
Analysing Bangladesh's performance on the tour, Mashrafe Mortaza noted his concern about the effectiveness of the team's bowling.
76.
Mashrafe Mortaza returned to the Bangladesh squad for Zimbabwe's tour of the country in December 2010, but Shakib Al Hasan retained the captaincy.
77.
Mashrafe Mortaza hoped to recover in time, and when it was announced that Mortaza had not been included in the World Cup squad there was rioting in Bangladesh and in one place a half-day strike.
78.
Mashrafe Mortaza finished as the team's leading wicket-taker with five wickets at an average of 29.00 from two matches, however he conceded runs at more than eight an over, the second highest in the series of those who had bowled at least ten over.
79.
An auction was held for teams to buy players, and Mashrafe Mortaza was bought by the Dhaka Gladiators for $45,000.
80.
On his return to competitive cricket Mashrafe Mortaza was made captain of Dhaka Gladiators.
81.
Shortly after the tournament concluded, Bangladesh hosted the 2012 Asia Cup; after losing to Pakistan the previous December, five new players called into Bangladesh's 15-man squad, including Mashrafe Mortaza who was making his come back to the national side after injury.
82.
Mashrafe Mortaza led his team to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup for the first time when they beat Scotland, Afghanistan and England in the group stage.
83.
Mashrafe Mortaza then captained Bangladesh to qualify for the semi-finals in 2017 ICC Champions Trophy after their win against New Zealand, and draw against Australia.
84.
In December 2018, during Bangladesh's series against the West Indies, Mashrafe Mortaza played in his 200th ODI match.
85.
In March 2020, when Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh, prior to the third and final ODI, Mashrafe Mortaza confirmed that he would be stepping down as Bangladesh's ODI captain after the series.
86.
Mashrafe Mortaza is a useful lower-middle order batsman, with a first-class century and three Test half centuries to his name.
87.
Mashrafe Mortaza has tried to develop his use of reverse swing in an attempt to become a more effective bowler.
88.
Mashrafe Mortaza has commented that "it always puts pressure on the bowlers when their side is bowled out cheaply in the first innings", something that the Bangladesh batting line-up has sometimes struggled with.
89.
Mashrafe Mortaza holds Bangladeshi records for highest strike rate in Tests and ODIs, and for scoring the most runs in an ODI over.
90.
Mashrafe Mortaza's batting is characterised by a reluctance to get in line with the bowling and he prefers to take a step towards square leg to facilitate his powerful shots.
91.
In March 2020, Mashrafe Mortaza became the first pace bowler and third player for Bangladesh to take 700 wickets in the professional career after Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan.
92.
On 4 April 2017, Mashrafe Mortaza announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals after the tour of Sri Lanka.
93.
Mashrafe Mortaza played his last T20I on 6 April 2017 against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium.
94.
On June 5,2021, during his interview with a cricket news website, Mashrafe Mortaza went on to reveal that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was rushing to bid him farewell and forced him to retire.
95.
Victoria College, Narail, Mashrafe Mortaza met Sumona Haque Sumi, whom he married in 2006.
96.
Mashrafe Mortaza was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League auction, with an estimated amount of US$ 600,000.
97.
Mashrafe Mortaza played just one match being not out with 2 runs and giving 58 runs of 4 overs.
98.
Mashrafe Mortaza took his first List A hat-trick and became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take four wickets in four balls in List A cricket.
99.
Mashrafe Mortaza was the leading wicket-taker for the team in the tournament, with 22 dismissals in 14 matches.
100.
Mashrafe Mortaza was selected for play for Gemcon Khulna in Bangabandu T20 Cup 2020.
101.
Mashrafe Mortaza contested in the election from Narail-2 constituency and after the declaration of results he eventually won the seat by a huge margin by 2,71,210 votes from his rival.
102.
Mashrafe Mortaza is the youth and sports secretary of Bangladesh Awami League since December 2022.