After plenty of drama unfolded in the Bangla Tigers' set-up regarding their top players, retirement and captaincy saga, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is now mulling over taking the team forward after their regular ODI skipper, Tamim Iqbal, got ruled out of Asia Cup 2023, due to back injury. Consequently, he decided to step down from captaincy. Notably, the top opener had earlier not only given up the leadership mantle but also stunned the world by announcing his retirement from cricket. However, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's interruption, the batter came out of retirement within a day span.
Now, in the latest development, the BCB president, Najmul Hassan has iterated that the most experienced veteran player in the form of Shakib Al Hasan is their go-to man after Iqbal's exit. Moreover, they are looking to ensure that the top all-rounder is available to serve the country before they ask him to don the role of Captain with the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup scheduled to begin on October 5. Notably, the board wants to appoint him a captain for at least two years of term citing the big pressure the team will have to go through at the biggest level and hence need an experienced campaigner to deal with it efficiently.
"We have not discussed captaincy yet. We have to take a break and think about it. As I have said before, if it was one series, we could have gone with the vice-captain (Litton) but now we have to think long term," Nazmul said during a press conference in Dhaka yesterday.
"There are two problems. If we think about the long term it is one thing. But there is the World Cup as well and the pressure of the World Cup is not small. If I select a new guy and whether he can take this pressure - we need to consider that as well. If we choose someone on a long term basis and he is not available after one year, what will we do? So we need to discuss these things," the BCB president continued.
I think the easiest choice is Shakib and there is no problem with it: BCB President
Furthermore, discussing about bringing Shakib Al Hasan to the centre stage, Najmul Hassan believes that they first need to see if the top player will be around for the next two years with Bangladesh. Besides he also talked about wicketkeeper Litton Das, who had recently led the Bangla Tigers against Afghanistan at home. Hassan said that the management is also keen to check whether Das is able to show consistency with his batting role when it comes to comparing the pressure of a bilateral series against the ultimate showdown in the form of the ODI cricket World Cup.
"Shakib is the obvious choice but can you say he will play for two years? We don't know that and so we need to know his plan and talk with the board. I think the easiest choice is Shakib and there is no problem with it," the BCB president further stated.
"Leading in the bilateral series and World Cup are two different things. And whether that influences his (Litton) batting or not, we need to see everything. We will take a decision without hurrying it up," Hassan concluded.
Meanwhile, the head coach of Bangladesh, Chandika Hathurusingha, is expected to start preparations with the team for the Asia Cup 2023 after his arrival on August 8. Notably, the inter-continental tournament will be played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan from August 30.
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