Sylhet Strikers skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has decided to take a break on Wednesday from the ongoing 10th Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20 tournament to discharge his responsibility as the Whip in the Parliament.
Mashrafe will be available to play for the Strikers further in the season if there is opportunity in between his political commitments and schedule, Sylhet Strikers franchise informed in a statement.
In absence of Mashrafe, Sylhet Strikers' vice-captain Mohammad Mithun will be the captain of the team.
Sylhet Strikers franchise has extended gratitude to Mashrafe for his commitment to the team in the tournament so far and looks forward to have him back when he is able.
Sylhet, the current runners-up of the tournament however lost all of their five matches, which put their playoffs aspiration in limbo.
"Mashrafe will be available to play for the Strikers further in the season if there is an opportunity in between his political commitments and schedule," a statement from Strikers said on Wednesday. "Sylhet Strikers franchise has extended gratitude to Mashrafe for his commitment to the team in the tournament so far and looks forward to have him back when he is able."
Although he was clearly struggling with an injury, Mashrafe played Sylhet's first five matches in the competition, all of which they have lost. It was reported that he couldn't prepare for the tournament as he would have liked, so he bowled off-spin off a few paces, and batted in different positions in the batting order. It led to a lot of hue and cry, including from former captain Mohammad Ashraful, who said that Mashrafe's presence in this state was "belittling the BPL".
Mashrafe has played five matches and got just one wicket in the current edition of Bangladesh’s domestic T20 franchise league. Sylhet Strikers has not registered any win though the team played five matches under his leadership so far this year.