Shakib captain for Asia Cup, T20 World Cup

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Saturday named Shakib Al Hasan as the Bangladesh T20 team captain.

The all-rounder will now lead the Bangladesh team in the Asia Cup, starting on August 27 in the UAE, the T20I tri-series in New Zealand, starting on October 7, and the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia, Jalal Yunus, chairman of the cricket operations of the BCB, said Saturday, UNB reports.

Shakib met with BCB President Nazmul Hasan Saturday afternoon.
"Shakib has been named captain of the Bangladesh T20I team till the T20 World Cup," Jalal said. "Before making the decision, we discussed it with the board president, members, and selectors."

Shakib recently signed a business contract with a news website called Betwinner News owned by a betting company.

According to the BCB's regulation, no cricketer can work for any organisation that is involved in betting-related activities.

Also, every player needs to take the permission of the board before partnering with any organisation as an ambassador. But Shakib did not do so while teaming up with Betwinner News.

"Shakib understood his mistake. He thinks he had been misguided to sign a contract with that kind of company," Jalal said.

The BCB's decision to appoint Shakib, who had made the same kind of mistakes before, as the T20 captain of Bangladesh came as a surprise to many. Shakib is the captain of the Bangladesh Test team as well.

The International Cricket Council banned the all-rounder in 2018 for "failing to report corrupt approaches." He accepted three charges relating to requests for "inside information for betting purposes."

"It's not right to make a compromise with a player who broke disciplines," Jalal added. "But since he said he would not make the same mistake again, we appointed him as the captain for the sake of the team."

The BCB also announced the squad for the Asia Cup. Right-handed batter Sabbir Rahman made a comeback to the national team. He played his last international match in 2019. Also, Mohammad Saifuddin and Nurul Hasan Sohan were added to the team.

Both Saifuddin and Nurul were suffering from injuries. While Saifuddin was out of action for a long time, Nurul played his last match during Bangladesh's recent Zimbabwe tour. However, Nurul's inclusion is subject to a full recovery from injury.

Left-handed batter Parvez Hossain Emon was added to the team too. He made his T20 debut during the Zimbabwe tour.

Liton Das, one of Bangladesh's best batters in every format of the game, was left out of the team due to a hamstring injury. His injury paved the way for Sabbir who was once considered Bangladesh's best T20 batter.

Bangladesh squad for T20 Asia Cup

Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed.

GY