Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday, named their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan to lead Bangladesh in the forthcoming Asia Cup and ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
Shakib took over the role after Tamim Iqbal announced to step down as Bangladesh’s ODI captain after he was ruled out of the upcoming Asia Cup due to his recurring back injury, unlikely to heal in time.
Following his appointment, Shakib Al Hasan faces a challenging task to lead Bangladesh in this year’s Asia Cup, followed by a home ODI series against New Zealand in September and then the ICC Men’s World Cup in India in October-November.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan made the announcement in a surprise media briefing at his residence in Dhaka.
“Shakib Al Hasan is the captain for the Asia Cup, New Zealand series and World Cup,” he said.
“We will speak more to him when he returns to Bangladesh [from Lanka Premier League]. We have to know his long-term plan.
“I spoke to him on the phone yesterday. But it is better if we talk to him in person since he is busy with a franchise league currently. We will also talk about which format he will keep leading, whether it is all three formats or one or two of them.
“There was never any confusion. I told you before. He is the obvious choice. Who else can lead? But we had to talk to him before appointing him. Nobody should think anything else. Shakib is the captain. He was always the main choice.”
BCB President further revealed that Bangladesh’s Asia Cup squad will be the same as their World Cup squad.
“They have just one spot open. We still don’t know about Tamim Iqbal who is recovering from a back injury. We might trial one or two openers in the Asia Cup,” he said.
Following his appointment as the ODI captain, Shakib Al Hasan has now become Bangladesh’s all-format captain, having started his third stint as Test captain and T20I captain last year.
It is worth mentioning here that Shakib Al Hasan has thus far led Bangladesh in 52 ODIs, 19 Tests and 39 T20Is.