DHAKA: Mosharraf Hossain, the former Bangladesh left-arm spinner, has passed away at the age of 40 in Dhaka, his family confirmed on Wednesday.
Mosharraf was suffering from brain cancer, which was diagnosed in March 2019. He had recovered after undergoing treatment, but the tumour relapsed in November 2020.
Nicknamed Rubel, Mosharraf had been in hospital over the last couple of weeks, but went home after another bout of chemotherapy recently. He is survived by his wife and one child.
Mosharraf was one of seven cricketers to score 3000 runs and take 300 wickets in first-class cricket in Bangladesh. Among the highlights of his career was winning the Player-of-the-Match award in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League final. He was the first of three Bangladeshi cricketers to win the award in a BPL final, the others being Tamim Iqbal (2019) and Alok Kapali (2015).
He also had the longest gap between international appearances. After making debut in 2008, his next call-up came in 2016 when he was picked for an ODI series against Afghanistan. He also played an ODI against England, which turned out to be his final international match. In five ODIs, he bagged four wickets.
Mosharraf made his first-class debut in 2001-02 season, while he was a Dhaka University student. He grew to be a domestic giant, and a regular among the top five wicket-takers in competitions like the National Cricket League and Dhaka Premier League.
