Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has appointed as the new Test captain on Thursday afternoon.
Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan announced the decision following a board meeting at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
Wicket-keeper batsman Liton Das was named as Shakib’s deputy.
Shakib was the considered the frontrunner amongst a few potential names after previous Test skipper Mominul Haque expressed his reluctance to continue as captain on Tuesday.
Hassan disclosed that there were initially three contenders= for the Test captaincy, including Shakib and Liton but the he didn’t reveal the other potential option.
Shakib will be taking over as captain from the upcoming West Indies tour, starting on June 16.
ALSO READ: Shakib frontrunner to take the leadership role
Mominul took over from Shakib in 2019 when the all-rounder was found guilty of not disclosing talks between him and a bookie.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned then Bangladesh captain Shakib from all cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
This is Shakib’s third stint as Test captain for Bangladesh. He was given the responsibility for the first time in 2009 and served till 2011. His captaincy was taken away following Bangladesh’s poor showing in the Zimbabwe tour.
ALSO READ : Mominul unwilling to continue as Test captain
In 2018, he was given the captaincy again as Mushfiqur Rahim stepped.
Shakib led Bangladesh in 14 Test matches and won three; all against West Indies. In his last Test as captain, Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan in Chattogram.
