Mashrafe Mortaza wins Bangladesh Parliament seat

Bangladesh captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, on Monday, became the first active international cricketer to be a member of the parliament in his country. Representing the Awami League, Mashrafe secured the Narail-2 seat in Bangladesh’s national elections, winning over 96 per cent of the votes in his constituency.

Mashrafe had begun campaigning on December 22, later than most candidates during this election, as he was nursing a hamstring injury after the Bangladesh-West Indies ODI series ended on December 14.

After winning the elections, he will shift to cricket with the Bangladesh Premier League beginning on January 5. He will lead defending champion Rangpur Riders.

After the BPL, Bangladesh will travel to New Zealand for three ODIs and three Tests. Bangladesh will later play an ODI tri-series in Ireland.

Besides Mashrafe, Naimur Rahman Durjoy, Bangladesh’s first Test captain, and BCB president Nazmul Hassan also won seats in Manikganj-1 and Kishoreganj-6 respectively for Awami League.