Former Bangladesh cricketers Mashrafe Mortaza, Nafees Iqbal test positive for Covid-19
Sunday, 21 June 2020 (12:43 IST)
Dhaka: Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has tested positive for Covid-19, his brother Morsalin Mortaza confirmed.
Mortaza, 36, who had played 36 Tests, 220 ODIs and 54 T20Is, was reportedly unwell for the last couple of days and got tested on Friday.
“My brother has had a fever for two days. He did the test last night. Today came the test positive. He is at home in isolation,” Morsalin told Cricbuzz.
Mortaza has become a Member of Parliament from Narail constituency in 2018. He has supported the coronavirus victims in Bangladesh with all his hearts since the outbreak of the pandemic.
From donating his Bangladesh cricket’s salary to supporting 300 needy families in Narail, his birthplace and the Lohagara upazila with food and essential items, the 36-year-old has done it all.
Earlier in the day, the news of former Bangladesh cricketer and elder brother of ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, Nafees Iqbal contracting Covid-19 also came out.
Nafees himself confirmed that he has contracted the deadly virus and is currently in home isolation in Chittagong, Dhaka Tribune reported.
“I had the first symptom 10 days ago. I had a fever and had aches and pains in the body but had recovered in like by the third day. But I still took the covid-19 test just to be sure and the result came back positive,” he said.
“I am doing fine at the moment and would like to request everyone to keep me in their prayers,” he added.
The right-handed batsman Nafees made his debut for Bangladesh in 2003 but has been out of the national reckoning since 2006.
The 34-year-old played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs for Bangladesh, scoring 518 and 309 runs respectively.
Nafees currently works as official to different teams in the domestic circuit and had been in couple of assignments with Bangladesh A side as the team manager.
The number of total confirmed Covid19 cases in Bangladesh till Saturday afternoon counted to 108,775 with 1425 death while 43,993 have recovered from the disease. (UNI)
