Photo: STAR
Former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud Sujon believes all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan should be given the ODI captaincy as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) considers options for leadership.
Tamim Iqbal announced that he was stepping down as ODI captain on Thursday after a meeting with BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon and chairman of cricket operations Jalal Yunus.
The BCB are still yet to decide who would lead the Tigers in the upcoming Asia Cup followed by the World Cup later this year.
Sujon, however, tipped Bangladesh’s Test and ODI captain Shakib to take the reins, with ODI vice-captain Liton Das being considered naturally for the role.
“How can I say I don’t like Liton as a captain? Liton led Bangladesh to a series win against India. But whatever the case, Shakib will be the front-runner. He has way more experience as captain, and his intelligence would be there for consideration. But I don’t want to belittle Liton. He has done really well as captain in the past,” Sujon told the reporters aat the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
“But I believe, when Shakib is in a team, he should be given the leadership. This is my personal opinion,” he added.
Sujon also pointed out that Liton has an impressive series win over India under his belt as captain and that could come into consideration on top of him being the vice-captain.
“If Liton is given the captaincy then it won’t be an issue for Shakib. I know Shakib personally. I don’t think Shakib would be upset about these things. On the contrary, he would try to help out Liton even more. Now, if the board thinks Liton should be captain, there is no problem,” he said.
“It won’t be okay to say that Liton is not ready for captaincy. He is also experienced. Since we won against India (under the leadership of Liton), his name would come up again and again. But I believe, since we have Shakib in the mix, we have a very good alternative when it comes to selecting our new captain,” he added.
