Prolific all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been announced as Bangladesh’s Twenty20 International skipper in Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) first meet of 2017 following fast bowler Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s abrupt retirement from the short-paced format during Sri Lankan series in March, last month.
Shakib was assigned the new role on Saturday (April 22) when BCB president Nazmul Hassan has revealed it to the media at its board headquarters in Dhaka.
“Since Mashrafe has retired, the board unanimously agreed to appoint Shakib as Bangladesh’s next captain for Twenty20 internationals,” Hasan told Bangladesh media.
Interestingly, Shakib has led Bangladesh in 49 ODIs, nine Tests in 2009 and 2010 respectively, but the side went on to lose all four T20I matches.
However, Hassan stated the experienced campaigner was among the top contenders for the post.
“A few other names were discussed but in the end we all have agreed to appoint Shakib,” Hasan revealed.
The reports suggested Shakib, who has also led national team in all formats of the international cricket, is expected to lead his team in July against Pakistan.
With his appointment, Bangladesh has now three separate captains for three formats with Mushfiqur Rahim leading the Test side and Mashrafe at the helm of One-Day International side.
Meanwhile, BCB has also hiked the salary of contracted players by 38 percent.
The approval came when the national players asked for the gradual increase in their salary as compared to rest of the teams participating in the international event.
“We are slightly confused by our grading system of the players. They get more rating points by playing more matches but that sometimes isn’t fair to players like Mustafizur Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain and Mehedi Hasan who also perform but haven’t played many matches,” Hasan remarked.
Given to the categories as A, B, C, D – the hike ranged from 25 to 33 percent which is as maximum as BDT 400,000 ($ 500) every month which further include match fee.
“So we will have a second look where we consider the players’ performance as well as our rating system,” Hasan concluded.
With the appointment of Shakib as a skipper, Bangladesh has now three different captains across all three formats including Mushfiqur Rahim (Tests), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (ODIs).
Shakib has played 169 ODIs in which he has amassed 4,776 runs followed by 3,479 runs in 49 Tests. In 59 T20Is, Shakib scored 1,208 runs and bagged 70 wickets at an average of 20.84.
The slow left-arm orthodox spinner has claimed 221 wickets in ODIs and 176 in Tests.