Mashrafe Mortaza aces the list for Bangladesh's most popular cricketer

There is no doubt over the fact that Bangladesh is a cricket crazy country. The sport is immensely popular there and the only sport in which Bangladesh challenges the rest of the world at the top level.

Bangladesh has improved exceptionally in the recent years and is no longer considered as the underdogs in world cricket. Not only the sport but the players also have a huge fan following in the country and are nothing less than superstars.

The two most popular players in the team are ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza and ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. Both the cricketers have contributed largely to the team’s success and they gave us another example of the same when Bangladesh reached the semi-finals in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy.

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But when it comes to who is the most popular cricketer in Bangladesh, it is definitely a hard call. Shakib Al Hasan is the best cricketer to be produced in the Bangladeshi ranks ever and there is no questioning the fact when it comes to the on field action. But a recent survey in the country gave us different results. In a survey conducted by Bangla Tribune Mashrafe Mortaza has emerged as the most popular cricketer in the country surpassing Shakib Al Hasan. Over 2000 respondents took part in the interesting analysis.

When asked about their favourite cricketers, 617 heads opted for the right arm pacer, while Shakib had to settle for the second position with 476 votes. Tamim Iqbal’s staggering stint in the Champions Trophy got him 213 votes while Mustafizur Rahman, popularly known as the Fizz got his share of 208 votes. Mushfiqur was the 5^th in the list with 158 votes by his name.

Questions were also asked about what the youth of the country thinks about the political and economical conditions of Bangladesh at present. Here is the complete list: