Captaincy divided
Pacer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has been named Bangladesh's ODI captain for the Zimbabwe series, set to take place in October-November, following a board meeting yesterday.
The 31-year-old will replace Mushfiqur Rahim, who led the Tigers in all formats of the game for almost three years. Mushfiqur was earlier named captain till next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The wicketkeeper-batsman however, has been retained as the side's Test captain for the Zimbabwe series, which includes three Tests and five ODIs
Apart from declaring two captains, the board also named allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and opener Tamim Iqbal as vice-captains in the ODI and Test formats respectively.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president, Nazmul Hassan Papon, who had made his intentions of enforcing the split-captaincy system in separate interviews this week, told reporters after the board meeting that the decision had to be taken in order to make Mushfiqur 'pressure-free'.
“The biggest reason is that Mushfiqur is our best batsman at this point of time and we believe that he can improve a lot more. It's extremely difficult for him to keep, bat and captain the side at the same time. That's why we decided to try something different and test our idea by giving Mashrafe a go,” Papon told reporters at Mirpur yesterday.
The president further added that during their discussion the board members had even suggested that Mushfiqur stops keeping and focus solely on his batting.
The decision to provide four different players with leading roles, according to the president, is an attempt to find a permanent captain for the future.
“This has been done on a test basis. We are basically looking for the perfect substitute for Mushfiqur. These are the senior-most players and they should take a major share of the responsibility. We will observe them before we take a permanent decision in the future,” said the BCB boss.
Asked about the reason behind giving Shakib a leadership role barely a few weeks after his disciplinary suspension was lifted, Papon said: “I think there was misunderstanding. We never had anything against Shakib. Yes, we were not happy with his behaviour, but in the recent past we have seen changes in him. He is a senior player and he has a big responsibility in the team.”
The president further added that the board is on the hunt for another captain for the T20I side.
Apart from the captaincy issue, the board discussed the performance reports, submitted by the coach and the directors, of the disappointing West Indies tour.
Meanwhile, the board congratulated the national women's cricketers for winning silver in the Asian Games.
Apart from the captaincy issue, the board discussed the performance reports of the team in the West indies, submitted by the coach and the directors. They also congratulated the national women's cricketers for winning silver in the Asian Games.
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