The BCB is expected to make the announcement this week, with Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz also in the running
The BCB will unveil Bangladesh’s new ODI captain later this week after the board’s president Nazmul Hassan had spoken to the candidates. Shakib Al Hasan is reportedly the first choice though Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are also contenders.
The board couldn’t finalise a name during the emergency meeting on Monday because it wanted to take the candidates’ views also into consideration. The squad for the Asia cup has to be announced by August 12, which leaves the BCB only three more days to reach a decision. Shakib is presently in Colombo; Litton has only just returned to Bangladesh after playing the Global T20 Canada; and Mehidy is in Dhaka.
Hassan had said in a recent briefing that appointing Shakib as the ODI captain would be an “easy decision”, but ESPNcricinfo understands it isn’t as straightforward. Shakib is already Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain, and it is not known whether he wants the leadership in all formats.
“After our emergency meeting today, the board has entrusted the president to discuss the matter with the captaincy candidates by August 12,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “The president will hear about who will lead in which format, and whether that player agrees with it or not. We want to hear it from the candidates what they feel about captaining the red and white-ball teams.
“We want to appoint a captain for the Asia Cup. We have to submit the team for this tournament by August 12. We have time till September 5, which is the deadline for World Cup squad declaration, to talk about the World Cup captain. We need to hear what the new captain will say. We will announce the team in the next couple of days. We will announce the captain too.”
Bangladesh are likely to name a 22-member preliminary squad for the World Cup by August 12, which will include all the players going to the Asia Cup, which begins on August 30.
The ODI captaincy remains vacant because Tamim Iqbal resigned on August 3, following his withdrawal from the Asia Cup owing to a back injury. He hopes to be fit in time for the ODI series against New Zealand that begins on September 21 and the ODI World Cup that follows.
His resignation came less than a month after he reversed his emotional decision to retire from international cricket. He had retired on July 6 but the following afternoon, Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina requested him to change his decision and he agreed. It was thought at the time that Hassan’s comments to a local media outlet, in which he questioned Tamim’s professionalism and fitness, had triggered him into retiring hastily.
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