Mashrafe will play all the matches, says BCB president

The question of ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's availability for the West Indies series due to busy general election schedules was a difficult one to answer for Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Nazmul Hassan when he was asked about it after the conclusion of the second Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Having returned to Dhaka yesterday after becoming the newly elected president of the Asian Cricket council (ACC), Nazmul said that he believes Mashrafe will play in all the matches.

"From what I know, and I have talked to him as well, he will play whenever he has a match. His top priority is cricket and it's the same for us as well," the BCB president said upon return from Lahore.

"Just because I am saying this now does not mean that things will turn out exactly the same. He [Mashrafe] himself said that he will play and during that time he may not be able to play a match. But we believe that Mashrafe will play all of the matches. It's our wish and our belief.," Nazmul said about Mashrafe, who collected an Awami League nomination form to contest the general elections from his home district of Narail.

Mashrafe himeself is yet to comment on the situation but BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury had earlier informed The Daily Star that the board did not receive any communication from the ODI captain about a leave.