The Bangladesh Cricket Board retained Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah as the captain and vice-captain of the national cricket team until the end of this year, formally bringing the curtain down on the resignation drama on Wednesday.
Mushfiq had announced his resignation from the post in the wake of Bangladesh’s one-day series loss to Zimbabwe in May, but later admitted the announcement in the middle of a series was a mistake.
It was reported to be an emotional outburst, though the Bangladesh cricket board promised an investigation into the allegation of non-cooperation by some senior cricketers.
However, no investigation was carried out in the end and Mushfiq, who has seen a gradual rise in the performance of the team until the blip in Zimbabwe, retained his post.
‘Mushfiq has already spoken to the president and agreed to continue with the captaincy,’ BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told reporters after a meeting of the ad hoc committee.
The new decision means Mushfiq and Mahmudullah will remain in charge only for the forthcoming home series against New Zealand in October as there is no other game up to that period.
There was, however, a big reward for coach Shane Jurgensen, who has been given an extension until March 2015. The extension means he will be in charge of the Tigers until World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.
Jurgensen joined the Tigers as the bowling coach in October 2011 and took over as the interim coach after Englishman Richard Pybus refused to continue in the job due to a contract dispute.
Under his guidance Bangladesh beat West Indies 3-2 in one-day series and were highly competitive in Tests, which prompted the BCB to appoint him as full time coach.
Jurgensen, who was given a one-year contract initially, was also highly successful in his first assignment as full time head coach as Bangladesh drew both the Test and one-day series in Sri Lanka before narrowly going down in the only Twenty20 match.
His initial one-year contract was due to expire in December. But the BCB decided to give him a lengthy extension as a reward for his hard work, despite the recent hiccup in Zimbabwe when the Tigers struggled to draw the Test and the Twenty20 series and lost the one-day series.
The BCB also extended the contract of national team physiotherapist Vibhav Singh and computer analyst Nasir Ahmed for one year.
Among other significant decisions, the BCB gave the three-member selection panel a three-month contract extension up to September 2013 after they ended their two-year term in June.
-With New Age input
