Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday named Shakib Al Hasan as Twenty20 captain for the forthcoming Asia Cup and the ICC T20 World Cup, two days after he terminated a deal with a betting site following the board’s ultimatum.

The 15th edition of Asia Cup will start on August 27 in the United Arab Emirates while the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13 this year.   

Earlier, the southpaw captained the side in the shortest version of the cricket from 2018-2019 before he was handed a two year ban — one of them suspended — by the ICC as he concealed a match-fixing proposal.

‘We have selected Shakib as our captain for the approaching Asia Cup, tri-nation in New Zealand and also for the ICC T20 World Cup,› BCB cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told reporters after a meeting on Saturday.

‘Shakib realised his mistake. He is a very important player for us. Since we had already decided to give him the captaincy, we did it.’

The decision came shortly after a high-ups meeting of the board at the BCB president Nazmul Hasan’s residence alongside Shakib.

Shakib on August 2 announced a partnership with Betwinner News, a portal run by the gambling firm based on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

He wrote on his social media pages that it was the ‘one and only source of sports news!’

Subsequently he was forced to terminate the partnership as the BCB boss issued an ultimatum asking him to stay with the gamblers or the board.

In the early stint Shakib led Bangladesh in 21 T20Is where the Tigers have bagged seven wins and 14 defeats until he was banned in October 2019.

Shakib, who also returned as Test captain in July, replaced wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan as Bangladesh’s T20 skipper.

Nurul was retained in the Asia Cup squad despite undergoing surgery on his left index finger in Singapore last week in the hope that he would regain his fitness by the time the tournament starts on August 27 in Dubai.

‘His stitches will be removed on August 21. Hopefully, the result will be positive,’ said chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

Three-time Asia Cup finalists Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Group B of the competition, with two teams progressing to the next round.

Bangladesh will commence their regional campaign against Afghanistan on August 30.  

Former captain Mushfiqur Rahim also returned to the side, having rested for the T20 series in Zimbabwe, where Bangladesh lost a series against the hosts for the first time while dashing batsman Sabbir Rahman has been returned in the squad after a two year long pause.

Pace bowler Ebadot Hossain was handed a place in the T20 side for the first time after he impressed in Tests and one-day internationals, while batsman Sabbir Rahman and all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin returned after a long gap.

Bangladesh will play a tri-nation tournament in New Zealand in October involving the hosts and Pakistan before they travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup.

Squad for Asia Cup
Shakib Al Hasan (C), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad,  Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed.