Follow UsBangladesh Cricket has gone through a lot in the last month. On July 6, their One-Day International (ODI) skipper Tamim Iqbal retired from international cricket, but the following day, withdrew his decision after meeting the country's Prime Minister.
A couple of days ago, he stepped down as the ODI captain of the side, citing injury as the issue. As a result, Bangladesh are now forced to look for a new captain for the upcoming Asia Cup and the World Cup.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan says senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is already the captain of the Test and T20 International (T20I) side, is the frontrunner to take over the vacant post, over Litton Das, who is the current vice-captain.
"We have not discussed captaincy yet. We have to take a break and think about it. As I have said before, if it was one series, we could have gone with the vice-captain [Litton], but now we have to think long-term," Nazmul told reporters in Dhaka on Saturday (August 5).
"There are two problems. If we think about the long term, it is one thing. But there is the World Cup as well, and the pressure of the World Cup is not small. If I select a new guy and whether he can take this pressure - we need to consider that as well. If we choose someone on a long-term basis and he is not available after one year, what will we do? So we need to discuss these things.
"Shakib is the obvious choice, but can you say he will play for two years? We don't know that, and so we need to know his plan and talk with the board. I think the easiest choice is Shakib, and there is no problem with it.
"Leading in the bilateral series and World Cup are two different things. And whether that influences his [Litton] batting or not, we need to see everything. We will take a decision without hurrying it up."
Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is expected to arrive on August 8 and take charge of the training as the team prepares for the Asia Cup, starting August 30, scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.