The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday appointed Shakib Al Hasan as the T20I skipper until the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia this year.
The announcement comes after Shakib pulled out of his contentions deal with Betwinner and had a closed-door meeting with BCB Chief Nazmul Hasan at his house.
However, due to the agreement with betwinner a news was spread that Bangladesh cricket may break up with Shakib.
After all ups and down his name announced as the T20 captain of the nation. From the top of controversy to the top of responsibility, such contrasts are as rare as they are debatable.
However, BCB’s head of cricket operation department, Jalal Yunus, said that the board made him captain only after he admitted the mistake and promised not to repeat it in the future.
Last few days, Shakib has been heavily criticized for being the goodwill ambassador of Betwinner News, a subsidiary of online betting site Betwinner.
He returned home on Friday night after a holiday in the United States. On Saturday afternoon, the BCB president discussed with Shakib at his residence in Gulshan. Later, Jalal Yunus, head of the cricket operation department of the board, announced in a press conference that Shakib is the captain until the next World Cup.
Jalal Yunus explained why they chose him for leadership.
“There has been a lot of talk about it. Shakib realizes his mistake and that he shouldn’t have done it. Shakib is a very important cricketer for us. Earlier in the board meeting, we had an idea that Shakib would be made the captain. We decided to stick with it.”
“Since he was in front of the President and told us that he mistakenly thought it was an online (news portal) and endorsed it. It didn’t work. After explaining to him, he withdrew.”
Jalal Younis said Shakib claimed to them that he had been misled about the deal, adding, “He felt that he might have been misguided.”
Apart from the agreement with the subsidiary of the betting site, Shakib also violated another clause of the central contract of BCB. Any contracted cricketer has to inform the BCB about any sponsorship they have and submit the contract to the board. Shakib did not. Jalal Yunus said, they will discuss it later.
“These have also been discussed. Since the deal was done without our permission, it will be discussed in the next board meeting.”
Jalal Yunus was asked again, why was the person who broke the terms of the board’s contract made the skipper.
“Shakib admitted his mistake, but he is important to us,” Yunus said. “He is still our best player. He has said he has terminated the (Betwinner) contract. We are hopeful he will not repeat it again. We have asked him not to commit such a mistake again. We have ended the whole thing.”
The question of whether he is getting away with the incident of indiscipline because he is the best cricketer in the team definitely arose. Jalal Yunus’s answer was also mixed with the rays of that reality.
“In such a case, one should not compromise. Discipline or code of conduct should not be compromised. But for the sake of the team… let’s see, since he won’t do it again and since he said it, we accept it this time. Hopefully, this will not happen again.
Nurul had taken over in T20Is from long-time white-ball captain Mahmudullah for Bangladesh’s previous assignment, in Zimbabwe, before being sidelined by a fractured finger. Mosaddek Hossain then captained the team in the last of three T20Is in Zimbabwe, as Bangladesh went down 2-1.
The T20I tri-series in New Zealand, which also involves the hosts and Pakistan, starts on October 7 and will be Bangladesh’s last chance to fine-tune for the T20 World Cup, which is set to be played in Australia in October-November.
