Bangladesh appoint Afif Hossain as T20I vice captain

Afif Hossain playing in a WC game [PC: Twitter]

In the latest development, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), on Sunday, appointed batting all-rounder Afif Hossain as vice-captain of the T20I team for the Asia Cup.

Hossain, 22, made his T20I debut for the Asian Tigers back in 2018. The left-handed batter has thus far featured in 47 T20Is, scoring 698 runs at 19.39/118.1 besides claiming 8 wickets at 24.75 apiece.

Afif will serve as deputy to champion all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was appointed skipper of the T20I team prior to the Asia Cup.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh was hit by repeated body blows as senior batter Liton Das (hamstring), wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan (finger), and pacer Hasan Mahmud (ankle) got ruled out of the continental tournament due to their respective injuries.

Bangladesh will open its Asia Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Sharjah on Tuesday, August 30th.

Can Shakib revive Bangladesh T20I team's fortune?

Shakib is the skipper for the Asia Cup

This tournament will be extremely crucial for Shakib & co as they aim to revive their sides' fortunes in their least favored format.

Bangladesh's struggles in T20Is are well documented. While the Asian Tigers have become a force to reckon with in the 50-over format, they have achieved new lows in T20Is over the course of the last 18-20 months.

Since the start of 2021, Bangladesh have managed just 13 victories in 35 T20Is, losing 21. They went on to lose each of their Super-12 fixtures at the last T20 World Cup, and since then, they have suffered crushing defeats against the likes of West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Also Read: BCB to seek clarification from Test and ODI coach Russell Domingo