Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Mortaza who contested the 11th parliamentary elections, fetched 34 times more votes as a ruling Awami League candidate for the Narail-2 seat than his nearest rival the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance’s Fariduzzaman Farhad. Mortaza became first active cricketer to become an MP.
The pacer, known as the ‘Narail Express’, got 271,210 votes while Farhad, the chairman of NPP, bagged 7,883 votes with the ‘paddy sheaf’ symbol.
The election officials announced the results on Sunday night after daylong voting.
Talking about his decision to join politics he had said, the 35-year-old said that after the end of his playing career, he is seeing a wonderful opportunity to serve the people of Bangladesh.
“My mindset is completely focused on training and the ODI series that’s coming up. I will only concentrate on that [the election campaign] after December 14,’ ESPNcricinfo quoted Mortaza, as saying.
‘If I play till the World Cup, I have about seven or eight months remaining in my playing career. I don’t know what I am going to do in the following four-and-a-half years. The Prime Minister has given me an opportunity to serve the people,” he added.
When asked about his retirement plans, Mortaza revealed that his personal goal is to play the 2019 World Cup adding that he might review his decision if he felt ‘completely different’ after the prestigious tournament.
“My mindset was made up for the World Cup. At one point I didn’t know if I could go further than the Champions Trophy [last year], but fitness kept me going. I will review my decision if I feel differently after the World Cup,’ he said.
“My personal goal was to play till the World Cup, which is eight months away. During this time I will be playing within my plan. Whether I will review my decision [to quit after the World Cup] or not, time will tell,” he added.
Voters from across Bangladesh exercised their franchise from 8am to 4pm on Sunday, to elect the next government. Early results show that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is heading for a landslide victory in Sunday’s general election.
