Bangladesh Rest Mahmudullah; Nurul Hasan Named New Captain For Zimbabwe T20I Series

Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to rest T20I skipper Mahmudullah from the upcoming three-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Nurul Hasan will lead the T20I side in his absence. Mahmudullah had recently led Bangladesh in the series against West Indies which the Tigers lost.

There have been speculations over Mahmudullah’s place in the Bangladesh team given his prolonged lean patch with the bat and as a captain as well. In an exclusive interview with Cricbuzz, team director Khaled Mahmud said that the management wasn’t very happy with the captaincy of Mahmudullah.

Mahmudullah led the side in 43 T20Is – the most of any Bangladesh captain in the format – winning 16 and losing 26 matches. His most significant results were the series wins over Australia and New Zealand at home last year.

The BCB held a meeting with Mahmudullah on Friday to inform him of the decision. The BCB has made several changes in the T20I squad for Zimbabwe, resting Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Shakib Al Hasan, who had earlier taken leave from the entire white-ball tour. Mushfiqur skipped the West Indies tour to perform Hajj.

Nurul Hasan A Stop-Gap Solution For Bangladesh; Mahmudullah Rested

ESPNCricinfo reported that the appointment of Nurul as Bangladesh T20I captain is a makeshift arrangement until Shakib, who is also Bangladesh’s Test captain, takes over the captaincy full-time when he returns to the side for the Asia Cup.

”We have decided that Nurul Hasan will lead the side in the upcoming T20Is. It is not that Sohan will lead the team in the World Cup. ‘We felt the T20 squad should make a new start as they are not performing well and we want the new guys to express them,” Khaled told reporters after the meeting.

Those who have been included in the T20I side are Parvez Hossain Emon, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hasan Mahmud. The uncapped Emon is a left-handed opener while Mahmud, who has played three ODIs and a T20I, is a seamer recovering from a long-term injury.

T20I Squad: Munim Shahriar, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Liton Das, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan(C), Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehedy Hasan Miraz, Parvez Hossain Emon

ODI Squad: Tamim Iqbal C), Anamul Haque Bijoy, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto Mehedy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam.

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