Before naming a replacement for Tamim Iqbal, who just stepped down as ODI skipper, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan emphasised on August 5 that they need to know Shakib al Hasan’s availability.
It’s been 72 hours since then, and the BCB president still hasn’t begun negotiations with Shakib on his availability. This is likely because he requires the board’s approval to do so.
The BCB president was given the authority to choose the next ODI skipper by the board during an emergency meeting held at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday, August 8. BCB officials have stated their confidence in finding a solution to the issue before the Asian Cricket Council’s deadline of August 12. Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host the next Asia Cup beginning on August 30.
Nazmul must now consult with the three leading contenders for captain: Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Today, we had to call an unexpected meeting. An difficulty arose when it came time to choose a captain for the Asia Cup. “We gave the responsibility of selecting the ODI skipper to our board president,” BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said to reporters following Tuesday’s meeting.
Now that he has spoken with the potential applicants, we can wrap up the deal. Our deadline (to reveal the Asia Cup roster) is August 12th, so we’re hoping to make a leadership decision before then.
All of the board members presumably agree that Shakib is the best capable of leading the team under the intense strain of the Asia Cup and the World Cup. However, some of them proposed dividing the role of captain in the future.
The general belief is that Liton should play more Test cricket in order to prepare him for the future, while Shakib should focus on the white-ball format.
According to board sources, the all-rounder is considering skipping the Test series as well after playing nonstop cricket from September through November. This is because Bangladesh is set to play a two-Test series against New Zealand on home soil following the World Cup.
Some of them, like Shakib in the Lanka Premier League and Litton in the just concluded Global T20, are presently playing overseas. We may have been able to reach them via phone. However, we did have a few talks about a few things. Jalal stated, “We want to settle whether we would assign leadership for two forms or all formats.
We’d want to get their approval before making them captain. We need to decide who will lead the ODIs before the Asia Cup begins. We may consider other two formats in addition to it,” he added, adding that they may choose a captain for the World Cup (to be held in India in October/November) before naming a captain for the Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup team announcement date is August 12, therefore we need to choose a captain before then. After that, by September 5th, we’d want to make the World Cup captain announcement,” he said.
There is some uncertainty as to whether or not Shakib would accept the opportunity to become captain, despite the fact that he will be in charge for the length of the World Cup.