Mashrafe Mortaza on Thursday (March 5) stepped down as Bangladesh’s ODI captain. The third and final ODI against Zimbabwe in Sylhet on Friday will be his last game at the helm of affairs.

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The 36-year-old Mortaza himself confirmed the decision while addressing the media on the eve of the third ODI.

Before this series, Mortaza has not played for Bangladesh ever since his poor outing at the 2019 World Cup, where he claimed only one wicket from eight games. Questions were raised over his ability to lead the team in the 50-over format and things came to a tipping point when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan recently announced that the Zimbabwe series will be Mortaza's last assignment as captain as they are looking to build a team for the 2023 World Cup.

Hasan had also said that Mortaza's selection as a player for upcoming tournaments will be subject to his beep test results.

Having made his international debut in 2001, Mashrafe Mortaza has represented Bangladesh in 36 Tests, 219 ODIs and 54 T20Is so far. He took over the captaincy reigns for the ODI side in 2010. After a few short stints, the pacer reclaimed the leadership role in November 2014.

Under Mortaza, Bangladesh made giant strides in 50-over cricket as they made it to the semi-finals of 2015 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy. In all, he led his country in 87 ODIs, winning 49 and losing 36.

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)