There was never any doubt about the announcement, but the official release a few days after the decision was made in a Board meeting raised a few eyebrows.

The decision was certainly a bolt from the blue for Bashar, the most successful Bangladesh captain who has recently advocated that the Board should change the policy of announcing a captain on a tour-by-tour basis. Instead the captain should be given a longer period of time to enjoy more authority in the selection process as well as earn respect of his teammates.

Board president Ali Asghar endorsed the idea recently by saying that he was ready to discuss the issue. Chief selector Faruque Ahmed was also interested to give the captain more authority both on and off the field. Even coach Dav Whatmore said that it was an important issue which needed to be discussed.

But the sudden announcement has not only showed that some advisors in the Board, who seem to be more powerful even than the president, were not ready to give the captain more authority that other captains in the world enjoy by their own right.

Although Ali Asghar is the all-powerful person in the Board, but for the last few days his remarks have created a lot of confusion. He went on record by saying that the Board has lured former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts to act as bowling coach of the national team. But after two days the Board had to issue a press release only to disown Asghar's claim.

If that was funny to say the least, the latest announcement of captain and vice-captain has fuelled the rumours that Asghar is facing a serious credibility crisis.

Either he is not sure about what he wants or he is powerless to put into effect what he preaches. The most talked about issue at the moment is the captain's area of authority and with yesterday's announcement, we have all gone back to square one despite the wishes of the chief selector, the coach and the captain himself. The Cricket Committee which runs cricket affairs of the national team should have shown a more responsible attitude by allowing at least some sort of dialogue on the debate before announcing the captain, again for one tour only.