After almost six months, the BCB board meeting was held on Monday where several important decisions have been taken. Nazmul Hossain Shanto has been made captain for all three formats. He will lead the Bangladesh team instead of Shakib Al Hasan from the upcoming Sri Lanka series. Bangladesh will enter the field under him for the next one year.
Also there has been a change in the selection panel of the Bangladesh national team. Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu has been given the responsibility of new Chief Selector. He will replace Minhajul Abedin Nannu from the upcoming Sri Lanka series. National age group selector Hannan Sarkar will act as his deputy. Among the old selectors, Habibul Bashar Suman has been left out like Nannu. But Abdur Razzak survived.
Minhajul Abedin Nannu's ouster from the post of Chief Selector was almost certain. Selector Habibul Bashar Suman had an idea that he could survive though. But with former captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu as chief selector, BCB decided to make major changes in the entire panel.
Only Abdur Razzak has survived from the previous selection panel to the new selection panel. Hannan Sarkar, the former opener of the national team, was on the selection panel of the U-19 team. As he proved his ability there, now he is included in the selection panel of the national team.
Chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu has been the selector of the national team for more than 13 years. Among them, he spent 7 years as the chief selector. His term has been mixed with good and bad, discussion and criticism.
The first assignment of the new selection committee will be to decide the team for the cricket series against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is coming to tour Bangladesh. Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in Test, ODI and T20-3 formats in this series, where there is concern over the availability of Shakib Al Hasan. However, Shanto was made the captain by BCB chief Papon after talking to him about the issue of leadership.
The Sri Lanka series will start with a T20. The first match of the three-match series will be played on March 5, in Sylhet.