Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been re-appointed Test captain following Mominul Haque‘s recent decision to step down from the role in order to concentrate on his batting. Top-order batter Liton Das has been named as the vice-captain.
“What I have discussed – or, what we have discussed – and learnt is that he [Shakib] is available to play. After the series against West Indies, we have a series against Zimbabwe. Shakib is uncertain for that series, and it’s unclear how long Shakib will remain the captain for,” said BCB president Nazmul Hassan on Thursday, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“I had three names. The people responsible for [selecting the captain] had their discussions and gave me three names – one of them would be the captain, and one of the others would be the vice-captain. If Shakib had refused the captaincy, we would have turned to the other two,” he added.
Shakib has had two previous stints as Test captain of the national side, during which Bangladesh won three and lost 11 out of 14 Test matches. He was first appointed Test skipper in 2009 when Mashrafe Mortaza was injured in West Indies and then was handed the reigns in 2017, replacing Mushfiqur Rahim.
Coincidentally, Mominul was named Test captain in 2019 following an ICC ban on Shakib for failing to report corrupt charges. Mominul led his side to three Test victories – including the historic one in New Zealand, along with two draws and 12 defeats in 17 fixtures.
“We wanted to appoint both the new captain and the vice-captain. And after the preliminary discussions, we decided to have Shakib Al Hasan as the captain and Litton Das as the vice-captain,” Hassan added further.
