Bangladesh captains Mashrafe, Shakib may contest in parliamentary polls, hints minister

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan may join politics and run for parliamentary elections, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has hinted.

Kamal, a former president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, also sought vote for Mashrafe in the next general elections, describing the ODI captain as a ‘good person’ while speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on Tuesday.

“Mashrafe may contest in election. Please vote for him,” said Kamal, who had also worked as president of the International Cricket Council.  

File Photo: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan speak to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a programme.

Asked if Mashrafe will get the ruling Awami League’s ticket, Kamal said, “Have I said that he will contest in the election as an Awami League candidate? He can also contest as a BNP candidate.”

“But, please cooperate with him, vote for him…He is a good person. He always follows what he decides for himself,” the minister added.

Sport organiser Kamal is an owner of the Bangladesh Premier League franchise Cumilla Victorians, for which Mashrafe played in the first two editions of the tournament.

“He made us champions in the first year and gave nothing the next,” Kamal joked.

Mashrafe has announced to play until the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

“I am also involved with the game as well as elections,” Kamal said when a reporter asked him if the cricketer would be eager to contest in the parliamentary polls scheduled by the end of this year.

Mashrafe from Narail is also involved in social works.

Called the ‘Narail Express’, he launched his ‘Narail Express Foundation’ to work for the development of the southwestern district last year.

The Awami League’s Md Kabirul Haque represents Narail-1 seat in parliament while SK Hafizur Rahman of the Workers Party is the MP from Narail-2.  

The issue of the possibilities of Mashrafe and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan joining politics came to the fore when the minister was speaking about laying of railway tracks from Faridpur’s Madhukhali to Magura town.   

Asked if the Test and Twenty20 skipper may contest from the Magura parliamentary seat, Kamal said, “He may also contest in election. He is old enough. I first contested in election when I was 48.”

Shakib, 31, hails from Magura.

Ruling party leaders ATM Abdul Wahab and State Minister for Youth and Sports Biren Sikder represent Magura-1 and Magura-2 respectively. 

Neither Mashrafe nor Shakib was available immediately for comments.