- Thursday, February 27, 2025
Shakib Al Hasan, who has more than 7,200 runs and 300 wickets in the 50-over format, was picked after Tamim Iqbal stepped down as the captain last week.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ACE Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead his country in the upcoming Asia Cup and 50-over world cup tournaments. The 36-year-old left-arm cricketer takes over the reins from Tamim Iqbal following his resignation last week after he was ruled out of the Asia Cup starting later this month due to a back injury.
In between the two marquee tournaments, Bangladesh will play a home series in the 50-over format against New Zealand.
Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hassan Papon made the announcement in a surprise media conference at his residence in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.
“Shakib Al Hasan is the captain for the Asia Cup, New Zealand series and World Cup,” he said, ESPNcricinfo reported.
“We will speak more to him when he returns to Bangladesh [from Lanka Premier League]. We have to know his long-term plan. I spoke to him on the phone yesterday. But it is better if we talk to him in person since he is busy with a franchise league currently. We will also talk about which format he will keep leading, whether it is all three formats or one or two of them.
“There was never any confusion. I told you before. He is the obvious choice. Who else can lead? But we had to talk to him before appointing him. Nobody should think anything else. Shakib is the captain. He was always the main choice.”
Papon also said that the Bangladesh squad picked for the Asia Cup will also play in the World Cup. He said Iqbal’s availability was still uncertain and that could see the Tigers trying one or two openers in the Asia Cup which will be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka between August 30 and September 17.
Shakib is currently his country’s skipper in all the three formats. He started his third stint as the captain in Tests and T20s in 2022.
Between 2009 and 2011, the spinner-all-rounder had led Bangladesh in 49 one-day internationals in his maiden stint as the captain and won 22 of those. He later led his side again in 2015 and 2017, chipping in as the replacement for former captain Mashrafe Mortaza, an injury-prone player.
Shakib has also led Bangladesh in 19 Tests and 39 T20Is so far, and the last of his 50 ODIs as the skipper was in 2017.
The ace cricketer was in supreme touch with the bat in the 2019 world cup in England where he belted two centuries and five half-centuries to finish with 606 runs, third in the list after India’s Rohit Sharma and Australia’s David Warner.
In the 50-over format, Shakib has scored more than 7,200 runs and taken over 300 wickets in 235 outings.
