‘There is no one more serious than him about cricket’ - BCB President backs Shakib Al Hasan as new Bangladesh ODI skipper

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon announced the decision to appoint Shakib Al Hasan as the new leader of the dressing room in ODI cricket. Notably, Tamim Iqbal recently relinquished his position as the captain of the side and that came as a major blow to the Bangla Tigers. However, given Shakib’s experience, BCB didn’t hesitate in appointing the 36-year-old as the new skipper ahead of Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup in India.

Speaking about the new captain, Nazmul Hassan stated that previously he had doubts about Shakib but now he knows that there is no other cricketer more serious than him when it comes to cricket. He also lauded the all-rounder for playing all over the world and stated that he never had any doubt about his ability as a player.

“There's no doubt about his potential. One thing I feel very good about, in recent times... watching over the last one year... is that I had doubts about Shakib, it's my personal opinion, how serious he is, what game he will play. Nor will he play ... Now I see there is no one more serious than him, about cricket.

“The amount of games we have, he is playing continuously all of those. He went to Canada, now back to Sri Lanka. Now that he has got the captaincy in the World Cup, I think he is now totally focused on cricket. It's a big deal for us. There is never any doubt about his ability,” Nazmul stated while talking to Daily Star.

Nazmul opens up on appointing Shakib as an all-format captain

BCB president clarified that it’s up to Shakib if he wants to lead Bangladesh in three formats of the game. However, he added saying that it might be difficult for the cricketer as the team will play a lot of matches in the upcoming cycle.

“If he says he wants to captain in one format, then it's one thing. He might say he wants to captain in two formats, maybe in white ball or red ball. Then it's another thing. He might even say he's comfortable in captaining in three formats. So we want to discuss with him first and then take a decision through the board. But I think he might be under much pressure if he wants to captain in three formats given the amount of matches we have coming up,” Nazmul mentioned.