¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·

Liton favourite to lead in T20s

Whether Shakib Al Hasan will play in the next Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be held in February in Pakistan and the UAE, will be sorted during this BPL, said Bangladesh Cricket Board president Faruque Ahmed on Friday.

The BCB boss also stated that Liton Das is favourite to lead Bangladesh in the T20s, as Najmul Hossain Shanto expressed his wish to not continue to lead the national team in this format. 

The issue with Shakib, who was a former MP of the now-ousted Awami League, has been lingering in Bangladesh cricket since he announced his retirement from Test cricket during the India tour last year. 

Shakib, though, didn’t return to the country as per BCB and the government’s advice. Shakib hasn’t featured in international cricket since November. 

But Faruque, who was talking to the reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday, hinted that he would try to bring Shakib back in the upcoming Champions Trophy. 

‘Shakib hasn’t retired yet,’ said Faruque.

‘If he had retired by now, then we could say that he is not available anymore. He has some issues where I cannot do much about it. If the government can solve his issues, then there will be a possibility.’

‘Then his fitness and mental state will be needed to look at. After that, the selection panel will think about it. But we cannot do much about it even if we need Shakib because it’s a national issue.’ added Faruque. 

Faruque said that a final call in this regard is imminent. 

 ‘The Champions trophy is not at home. It’s a valid question. I think during this BPL we will sit with the selectors and make a decision,’ said Faruque.

Faruque also mentioned that Liton is among the frontrunners to lead Bangladesh in T20s. 

Liton led Bangladesh to a clean sweep over the West Indies in a recently completed T20 series of three matches. 

But the BCB boss said that Shanto will continue to lead Bangladesh in the other two formats.

‘Shanto is out of the team due to his injury. If he comes back, he’ll be the captain. He was supposed to lead the team till last December. But we think that he’ll continue till the Champions Trophy. We’re not seeing any reason for him not to be the captain,’ said Faruque.

‘In T20, he expressed his wish that [he wanted to quit] as he’s not comfortable in this format. In that format, we’re thinking about another captain. 

‘And as our next T20 assignment is in March, we’ve some time. So that’s not an issue for now.’ 

Faruque was also impressed with Liton’s captaincy despite the wicketkeeper-batter being out of form. 

‘I always think that form has nothing to do with the issue of leading a team and to have a cricket brain,’ said Faruque. 

‘It’s natural that a batter will go out of form. But the best part of Liton in the last tour was that he captained fantastically despite not getting any runs. If individual performance cannot affect the captaincy, then it’s a great quality.’