Mashrafe, Joya win Sera Bangali award

Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and film actress Joya Ahsan have been awarded “Sera Bangali” this year.

West Bengal’s daily Bangla newspaper Anandabazar, which organised an award giving ceremony at a five-star hotel in Kolkata yesterday, selected Mashrafe and Joya on sports and film categories respectively, reports our Kolkata correspondent.

Mashrafe became the third Bangladesh cricketer after Habibul Bashar and Shakib Al Hasan to win the best Bangali award.

Anandabazar organizes the programme on an annual basis to celebrate Bangali of the year for outstanding achievements in film, sports and other categories.

According to Anandabazar, the Bangladesh captain said, “Coming from Bangladesh to receive the award is a matter of pride for me. It feels nice to come here today.”

Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar won the award in 2007 while Bangladesh’s top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan won the award in 2012.