All-rounder Sakib al Hasan will lead Bangladesh in the remaining three one-day internationals against the touring New Zealand, the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed on Friday.
The decision to appoint Sakib as captain for the series was taken in a special meeting of the BCB’s technical evaluation committee after confusion arose following a comment of the player.
Sakib, originally the vice-captain of the side, took the helm after regular skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza sprained his ankle in the nine-run win in the first one-dayer. Sakib told reporters on Thursday he will remain in charge only until the second one-day international and will think about his future afterwards.
His comments stoked a controversy as being the vice-captain it was his duty to lead the side in the entire
series in the absence of regular captain. It was also seen as an audacity on the part of the player, who has a contractual obligation to the BCB.
The BCB, however, did not want to make the situation muddy in the middle of a series and thereby ruin the psychological advantage that Bangladesh got over their opponents at the moment.
They acted promptly to resolve the issue and reached an agreement with Sakib following which an official declaration came. No vice-captain was appointed for the series.
‘We spoke to Sakib last night and reached an agreement with him,’ said Jalal Yunus, the spokesman of the BCB, at a news conference, without divulging the details of their discussion.
‘Sakib was given the authority to hand over the captaincy to whoever he likes if he leaves the ground for any reason during the series,’ he said.
Jalal, however, refused to confirm whether Mashrafee will return as captain for the next series against Zimbabwe if he regains his fitness.
‘We will discuss about the captaincy for the next series against Zimbabwe and the World Cup after the current series is over. We have a Board meeting on October 24 where a decision will be made,’ said Jalal.
