Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza registers landslide victory in general elections

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza became the first active international cricketer in his nation to be elected a Member of Parliament after registering a landslide victory in the 11^th national elections on Sunday.

The 35-year-old pacer, contesting the Narail-2 constituency for Awami League, won over 96% of the votes to claim the victory. Mortaza got 274,418 votes while his rival Fariduzzaman Farhad nominee of the Jatiya Oikya Front Alliance got just 8,006 votes from a total of 317,844 votes.

Mushrafe, called the “Narail Express” becomes the second Bangladesh cricketer after former national captain and BCB President Naimur Rahman Durjoy to become an MP. Naimur also won seats in Manikganj and Kishoreganj-6 in the elections.

Mushrafe has started campaigning for the elections last month as he was nursing a hamstring injury following the conclusion of the West Indies series. He is set to resume his cricketing duties with the T-20 tournament Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which is set to begin on January 5, 2019. Mushrafe will lead defending champions Rangpur Riders in the competition.

The general elections in Bangladesh was held on Sunday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League marching to a landslide victory for the third consecutive time. Awami League won 226 seats out of a total 300 seats.

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