Shakib Al Hasan reappointed as Bangladesh Test captain

Bangladesh on Thursday (June 2) reappointed all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as their next Test captain, replacing Mominul Haque, who recently stepped down from the role to focus on his batting, Cricbuzz reported.

Shakib has experience leading the team in the longest format of the game. He was earlier appointed Test skipper of the team in 2009 when Mashrafe Mortaza was injured in the West Indies. Later, in 2017 he replaced Mushfiqur Rahim to don the captaincy cap. 

The veteran all-rounder, however, handed the reign to Mominul Haque in 2019, when he was banned for one year by ICC for breaching the Anti-ICC corruption code. But now, as Mominul gave up the role to focus on his batting, Shakib Al Hasan is back at the helm, along with Liton Das as his deputy.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hasan, earlier in a conversation with Cricbuzz, conveyed that Shakib Al Hasan may be reappointed as the Test captain of Bangladesh only if the left-hander is available for all the games. 

"Shakib can be a skipper in any format. But we need to know whether he will play or not (Test cricket regularly). If he says that he won't go or choose a format, then it will be a problem. Shakib was our skipper, and there is no doubt about his captaincy. But we also need to be sure about his availability," Nazmul told Cricbuzz.

"He cannot make last-minute decisions about his availability when he is the captain. We have to discuss it with him first. We cannot make someone a captain on a whim and so have to take a well-thought-out decision."

Mominul Haque, who has led the side since October 2019, won just three games out of the 17 played while losing 12 of them. Bangladesh began 2022 by registering a historic Test win over New Zealand but failed to replicate the performance in their next five matches as they lost four of them. 

Bangladesh is currently placed at the second last spot on the WTC 2022 points table and will look to climb up the rankings under their new skipper Shakib Al Hasan.