Liton Das has been named the new T20 captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team while Mahedi Hasan has been given the vice-captaincy as the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the squad for the forthcoming series against the UAE and Pakistan on Sunday.听
Najmul Hossain Shanto has returned to the T20 side after missing the Caribbean tour, where Bangladesh last played in the format.听
Towhid Hridoy, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam and Tanvir Islam also returned to the side, while fast bowler Nahid Rana was called up for the first time. 听
Pacer Taskin Ahmed was ruled out due to an injury to his ankle for which the pacer is currently in London for consultation.听
From the last series against the West Indies, Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Ripon Mondol were axed.
Liton captained the national team against the West Indies last December when Shanto was injured. Shanto, however, expressed his desire to step down from the T20 captaincy.听
BCB鈥檚 chairman of the Cricket operations, Najmul Abedeen Fahim, said that Liton was given the captaincy for a long term. He will be the captain of the side until the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled for next year.听
However, Liton鈥檚 form has been a matter of concern. Fahim said that they considered everything before making the decision.听
听鈥楩or Liton, experience has been an important factor. We don鈥檛 have that much experienced cricket. There were discussions concerning his form. But he has that potential. If he can organise his game, he will be an asset for the team,鈥� said Fahim.
鈥楨veryone has a positive mindset towards his tactical knowledge. We think that he will play an important role for the team once he starts to perform,鈥� he added.
They have similar mindsets towards Mahedi too.听
鈥楾here are not many experienced players in the team right now. And we know Mahedi is kind of an automatic choice in the T20 format. Moreover, his experience and tactical knowledge are quite visible. That came to our attention. We discussed this,鈥� said Fahim.听
鈥榃e thought he could be given the chance. However, we have given him the vice-captaincy only for these two series. We will give opportunities to others too. We want to build a captain under another captain,鈥� he added.
Squad: Liton Das (Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam.听
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