Shakib, Mahmudullah in contention to become T20 captain
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is considering four players including Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah for the captaincy role in Twenty20 Internationals and will finalise the skipper before the Asia Cup, which begins in the last week of this month, said board president Nazmul Hassan.
Nurul Hasan, who led the side in the first two T20Is of the Zimbabwe series, and Test vice-captain Liton Das are the other two names in consideration, reports news agency BSS.
“Shakib’s name is in the list to be T20 captain. Mahmudullah’s name is also in the list. Liton is being considered while many also like Sohan (Nurul) as the captain. Their names have been shortlisted. We’ll announce later who will be the captain,” Nazmul Hassan said after a BCB executive meeting on Thursday.
But he remained tightlipped when asked why Mahmudullah has been shortlisted. The BCB initially rested Mahmudullah from the Zimbabwe T20Is and then later recalled him for the third T20I to replace an injured Nurul. But he played that match as a general member of the team, not as captain.
The board has also finalised the squad for the Asia Cup but could not announce it before electing a captain.
“The team for the Asia Cup is finalised but I think we should first talk to the captain and to the coach. Then it would be good to announce the team,” the BCB boss said.
“You will get to know about the Asia Cup team and captain within two days. I don't know who will be appointed as captain. I told the policy makers to talk to all the potential names who are in consideration to be captain. As far as I know, four players have been named in the shortlist, among which one has already refused the captaincy.”
The Asia Cup, which will be contested as a T20 format this year, will begin on 27 August in the UAE.
A total of 13 matches will be held in Sharjah and Dubai.
Bangladesh are drawn in Group B alongside Sri Lanka and Afghanistan while India and its archrivals Pakistan are drawn in Group A and a team, promoted from the qualifiers will join them in this group.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super Four. The top four teams will play one match against each other and the two sides with the most points in this round will play the final.
Nazmul Hassan said that this time he will accompany the team in the Asia Cup.
“This time I will go to the Asia Cup, I’ll be with the team. See what happens,” he said.
Bangladesh reached the final of the previous edition of the Asia Cup. But the Tigers had to settle for the runners-up trophy, losing the final against India.
Bangladesh’s recent form in T20Is has been poor, as they are fresh off suffering a 1-2 series defeat against Zimbabwe, their first ever series loss in the format against the Zimbabweans.