DHAKA—Fast bowler Mashrafe Bin Mortaza entered into the bio-bubble created for the players, officials and other stakeholders of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup after getting a negative Covid-19 test.
The most successful ODI captain of Bangladesh will take part in the tournament, donning the jersey of Gemcon Khulna where he will get Mahmudullah Riyad and Shakib Al Hasa as his teammates.
Mashrafe also attended an individual practice at the academy in Mirpur on Monday morning.
The right-arm pacer bowled in addition to light fitness training. After bowling at the academy, Mashrafe entered the bio-bubble.
Mashrafe got picked up by Gemcon Khulna through a lottery held at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) office. The lottery was held since apart from Khulna, three more teams– Beximco Dhaka, Minister Group Rajshahi and Fortune Barisal applied to BCB to rope him in.
In a bid to play the Bangabandhu T20 Cup Mashrafe also had to go through a fitness test in which he passed, scoring 10.6 points in beep test.
Mashrafe reduced his body weight by more than 10 kg to keep him fit for the tournament. The former captain was last scheduled to played a competitive cricket in Dhaka Premier League (DPL), which was postponed due to Covid-19. In March, he stepped down as ODI captain after playing against Zimbabwe.
Gemcon Khulna will face off Gazi Group Chittagong in their seventh match on Tuesday. The match will start at 6:30 pm at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. After a long break, Mashrafe is likely to return to cricket with this match.BSS
