After a period of drama and chaos, the star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has officially been named the captain of the Bangladesh ODI side, reports UNB.
With this appointment, Shakib now holds the captaincy position for Bangladesh across all formats of international cricket, as he has already been leading the Tigers in T20Is and Tests.
However, whether he will continue in this role for all formats will be decided later after a discussion between the board and Shakib.
The board will soon announce the Bangladesh ODI squad for the Asia Cup as well. The deadline for announcing the Asia Cup squad is August 12th.
Nazmul Hasan, the President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), confirmed this development on Friday at his residence in Dhaka's Gulshan. Nazmul has stated that if Shakib wants to continue leading Bangladesh in all formats, the board will happily accept it.
The board was expected to appoint a captain last week, but they could not do so as the board needed to discuss the matter with Shakib.
The Asia Cup will be played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, while the World Cup is scheduled to take place in India later this year.
“Shakib has been appointed as the captain of the ODI team of Bangladesh,” Nazmul informed the media. “He will lead the Bangladesh team in both the Asia Cup and the World Cup.”
Tamim Iqbal recently stepped down as the captain of the Bangladesh ODI team due to concerns regarding his injuries, which also sidelined him from the Asia Cup. Tamim is now expected to make a comeback ahead of the World Cup.
Shakib last led the Bangladesh ODI side as a full-time captain in 2011.
Alongside Shakib, top-order batter Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were also considered in discussions for the next ODI captain. However, the board eventually decided to appoint Shakib.
Litton has experience leading the Tigers in several limited-over matches, while Mehidy is yet to lead the national team. However, he was a regular captain of the Bangladesh U-19 team and also led his team in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Nazmul has previously stated that they are fully confident about Litton but expressed concern about his captaincy in the World Cup, as he lacks as much experience as Shakib in captaincy.
“Leading the team in a series and leading the team in the World Cup is not the same,” Nazmul said earlier.
During a recent media interaction, Nazmul also emphasized that selecting Shakib as the captain was the most straightforward decision for the board, and now, the board has ultimately solidified that choice.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
