Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has tested positive for the global virus after he got tested last week.
"My brother has had a fever for two days. He did the test last night. Today the test came positive. He is at home in isolation," Morsalin, Mortaza's brother, told Cricbuzz.
The 36-year-old is a parliament member and was reportedly in the thick of aid efforts in his Narail constituency, which is also his hometown, in an effort to help tackle the global pandemic ravaging Bangladesh, as it is in the rest of the world at large.
This makes Mortaza the second Bangladesh cricketer to test positive, after Nafees Iqbal's test was also confirmed positive earlier. The elder brother of Tamim, he played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs between 2003-2006 and is currently under home isolation.
Mortaza has played 220 ODIs, 36 Tests and 54 T20Is during his international career and has now been restricting himself to One-Day Internationals (ODI) at the international level. Bangladesh was set to embark on a three-Test tour of Sri Lanka in July -- part of the World Test Championship -- followed by hosting New Zealand the month after that.
However, the likelihood of either series going ahead look slim now, due to the various difficulties posed by the global pandemic. September's Asia Cup, where Bangladesh finished runners-up to India in the previous edition, is also looking doubtful, with the deadly global virus having infected over 100,000 in Bangladesh, taking 1400 lives and moving the government to implement area-wise lockdown.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / STR
