No one is as serious about cricket as Shakib: BCB president
The answer to the question, who will be the next Bangladesh captain, has finally been answered. Shakib Al Hasan has been handed the responsibility to lead the Tigers in the Asia Cup and World Cup. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan disclosed it to the press at his Gulshan residence on Friday.
“In the Asia Cup and the World Cup, he (Shakib) will be the captain,” Nazmul told the media.
However, he also revealed that Shakib has been given the One-Day International (ODI) captaincy for till the World Cup, not for a long term, “I haven’t had a discussion about that (long term captaincy) with him. I can tell you this after he returns to the country. I need to know what his long term plans are.”
Before receiving ODI captaincy, Shakib was the skipper in Tests and Twenty20s. BCB feels that leading the team in three formats could prove to be too much of a burden for Shakib.
“Captaining in three formats simultaneously would be a burden on him. That’s why we need to hold a discussion with him. It’s difficult to say anything before consulting him first. He is currently in abroad, playing for another team. He has some other engagements as well. That’s why I didn’t want to disturb him too much. Even today (Friday) he has a match,” Nazmul said.
“What we have decided is that Shakib will be our captain in all matches till the World Cup. We have to decide after speaking with him if this will be a long term captaincy, will he remain captain in all three formats or will he let go of captaincy in some formats. We will talk about this after he returns,” he added.
The BCB boss also gave another reason to why they chose Shakib as the captain, “There is no doubt about his potential. I’m very glad about one thing. I personally had doubts about one thing about Shakib, a doubt about his seriousness, which matches he will play and which games he won’t… But now I feel that no one is as serious about cricket as Shakib.”
The BCB president further added, “He is playing all of our matches, and he is also regularly playing matches in other places. He went to Canada, now he is in Sri Lanka. As he has taken on the responsibility for the World Cup, I feel that he is totally focused on cricket. This is a huge plus point for us. There are no doubts about his capabilities.”
The talks about who will be a new ODI captain started much before Tamim Iqbal officially left the post on 3 August. In July, Tamim had announced his retirement from international cricket after the 1st ODI against Afghanistan. Tamim reversed his decision the following day after a discussion with prime minister Sheikh Hasina. But in the following month he let go of captaincy due to his back injury.
Since then, Shakib has been viewed as the next ODI captain. Shakib first became the Bangladesh captain in all three formats back in 2009 during the West Indies tour. Bangladesh played under his leadership till 2011. After that, in 2017 he was named as the Test and Twenty20 skipper.
In 2019, Shakib was banned for a year by the ICC for keeping undisclosed contacts with bookmakers. In his absence, Mahmudullah was named the T20 captain and Mominul Haque took over as the Test skipper. After Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stepped down, Tamim was named the ODI captain.
In 2022, Shakib returned as the skipper in Tests and T20s. In June that year, Mominul stepped down from Test captaincy and Shakib was reinstated as the captain in the longest format. He also regained captaincy in the shortest format in August.
Now, Shakib has once again become the ODI captain ahead of crucial tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World Cup.