Tamim named new ODI captain

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday announced Tamim Iqbal as the new ODI captain of Bangladesh Cricket Team.

“Tamim has been selected as the new ODI captain. He’ll be leading Bangladesh in the coming days,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan told the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium after a meeting of the board.

Tamim’s first assignment as the full-time captain will be leading the Tigers in the Pakistan tour for a one-off ODI on April 1.

Tamim replaced Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who stepped down as Bangladesh’s ODI captain in the 3rd and last ODI match of the Zimbabwe series. Mashrafe led the Tigers since 2014, taking over from Mushfiqur Rahim.

Tamim, the left-handed opener, led the Tigers earlier. But this is his first appointment as the full-time captain. He will be leading the Tigers as per the latest development.

“The decision was taken by the board. Some of the players are reluctant to take the captaincy. We’ve decided that Tamim will be leading the Tigers in the coming days. There’ll be no time limit for him for now,” Nazmul further told the media.

Along with Tamim, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad were at the centre of contention as the captain of Bangladesh ODI team. Mushfiqur was Bangladesh’s regular captain right before Masrhafe took over from him in 2014, and Mahmudullah has been leading the Tigers in T20Is after Shakib Al Hasan was handed a two-year ban in October last.

Tamim led the Tigers in one Test and three ODIs earlier and Bangladesh lost all of those matches with three ODIs on the trot against Sri Lanka after the World Cup 2019. In the Sri Lanka series, Tamim scored only 21 runs in three matches.

He has the experience to lead Cumilla Victorians in Bangladesh Premier League in the immediate past edition, but he had handed over the captaincy to Imrul Kayes in the midway of the event citing to concentrate more on his batting.

BCB has not decided who will be the deputy captain to help Tamim during his first stint as the full-time captain.

Nazmul said: “We haven’t decided who will be his deputy, and there’s no time-limit for him as well. We thought to give captaincy for a longer time, and Tamim will enjoy it.”

Earlier, Mashrafe requested BCB in his last press conference as captain to give the new captain adequate chance so that he can put his best foot forward for the betterment of Bangladesh cricket.

“I would like to request BCB to give enough time to the captain so that he can execute his plan as a captain,” Mashrafe told the media ahead of the third and final ODI against Zimbabwe on March 5 at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.