Mashrafe Mortaza to support 300 families from private funds

Mashrafe Mortaza, the former Bangladesh skipper, has come out in support of the ones affected in the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Helping out the common people in the hour of need isn’t something alien to the veteran fast bowler. This time around, the 36-year-old has decided to support 300 low-income families in Narail, his birthplace, and the Lohagara upazila.

But this time around, he won’t be available in Narail as he is in isolation due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s been learned that either his family or his representatives will be helping out the families in the next couple of days. The same was informed by Mashrafe’s assistant Jamil Ahmed Sani.

“We have decided to help the local underprivileged within the next two days. In the meantime, the task of making the list is completed. Goods will be delivered from house to house. Where every family will have five kilos of rice, oil, pulses, potatoes, salt and soap,” Mashrafe’s assistant was quoted as saying in The Daily Star.

Mashrafe Mortaza donates half his salary

Mashrafe has also donated half of his Bangladesh cricket’s salary for contributing towards improving the situation. Apart from him, 26 other Tigers’ players also came forward. Left-handed batsman Tamim Iqbal, who was recently appointed as the national ODI captain, donated the highest amount.

17 of the 27 cricketers are in the list of Bangladesh’s central contracts. A total of taka 30 lakhs and 15 thousand have been collected, but after deducting the Value Added Tax (VAT) that comes down to around 26 lakhs.

“The whole world is fighting against coronavirus pandemic. We, the cricketers, are trying to aware people in social media to take necessary steps to prevent this pandemic. But we believe we have many more things to do rather than just increasing awareness among people.” Tamim was quoted as saying in a statement on behalf of his teammates.

On March 25, Bangladesh reported its fifth death and it was confirmed by The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR). Meerjady Sabrina Flora, the (IEDCR) Director said that 47 people have been kept in isolation even as 47 are in institutional quarantine. On Monday, the Bangladesh government declared a 10-day shutdown from March 26.