Bangladesh have named ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as their World Cup captain for the showpiece event starting next month, an official said yesterday.
Shakib, who led Bangladesh to a historic 4-0 whitewash of New Zealand as stand-in skipper in October at home and a 3-1 victory over Zimbabwe last month, was chosen over the injured Mashrafe Mortaza.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it was “proud” to announce Shakib as captain. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal was named as vice captain.
The World Cup, jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka opens on Feb. 19 in Dhaka with a match between India and Bangladesh.
BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said Shakib, 23, was made captain for the World Cup and the rest of the year as regular skipper Mortaza was not certain of his place in the team, although he has been named in a 30-man preliminary squad.
“He [Mortaza] injured his right knee and is not match fit yet. He has to first prove that he has regained enough fitness for bowling,” he said. “We have given him [Tamim] the vice captaincy for a year as we want to groom him for future captaincy.”
Shakib has scored 2,834 runs and taken 129 wickets in 102 one-day internationals.
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