Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (born 5 October 1983 in Narail District, Jessore) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and vice-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe, representing Bangladesh before having played a single first-class match. Mortaza is considered one of the fastest bowlers produced by Bangladesh, usually bowling in the mid-80s mph (130s km/h), and regularly opens the bowling for the team. He is a useful lower-middle order batsman, with a first-class century and three Test half centuries to his name. Mortaza's career to-date has been hampered by injuries. Due to his international commitments, Mortaza has infrequently played for his team, Khulna Division, in Bangladesh's domestic cricket competitions. While he has represented Bangladesh 35 times in Tests and in 95 One Day Internationals (ODI) between 2001 and 2009 he has played only 10 first-class matches and 9 list A matches for Khulna Division in the same period. Recently, Mortaza stunned the cricketing world after fetching $600,000 - 12 times his base price - during the player auctions for the IPL. He was sought after by both the Punjab and Kolkata IPL teams, but the Kolkata Knight Riders made the final call.
