Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is seen during a training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday. — New Age photo
Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday stroked a new controversy when it appointed Mahmudllah as captain of the Twenty20 side for the first match against Sri Lanka in the absence of regular captain Sakib al Hasan.
Sakib was formally ruled out of Thursday’s opening game in Dhaka as he failed to recover sufficiently from a finger injury that he sustained during the tri-series final against the same opponents in late January.
After the BCB meeting on December 10, where it appointed Sakib as Test captain, BCB president Nazmul Hasan told reporters that Tamim Iqbal would continue as vice-captain of the Twenty20 side.
The BCB, however, did not mention anything about it in its official press statement.
The BCB suffered a dilemma about naming a captain for the Twenty20 side in Sakib’s absence after Mahmudllah did a fair job in the recent Test series.
Ironically, during Bangladesh’s previous home series against Sri Lanka in 2014, Tamim had resigned as vice-captain after the BCB failed to appoint him as captain in the absence of the then captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
The BCB had appointed senior player Mashrafee bin Murtaza as captain for the two-match series after Mushfiq sustained a finger injury during the preceding Test match.
Tamim felt offended and reacted furiously to the decision as stepped down as vice-captain citing his preference for concentrating on batting.
The left-hander, however, did not show much of a reaction this time as BCB never confirmed him as vice-captain officially.
‘I don’t have much to say,’ Tamim told reporters on Tuesday. ‘Those, who are the decision maker, can only say who will lead the team. All I can say our team did not stop for it. Whoever is captain – its different matter. We are trying to do well as an individual and team… it’s not important who is captain.’
Tamim led Bangladesh only once in his long career when he led the team in a Test match against New Zealand in Christchurch after an injury of Mushfiq last year.
Selectors included left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam as a replacement of Sakib for the first Twenty20 international.
Selectors hoped Sakib would recover in time to make it the second and final Twenty20 international.
‘He was making a good progress, so we thought he might be available for both the matches. But it seems now he cannot play the first Twenty20,’ said chief selector Minhajul Ahmed.
‘We will see how he goes before we decide about playing him in the second match,’ he said.
The second match of the series will be held in Sylhet on February 18.
Source: New Age.
