NEW BANGLADESH TEST CAPTAIN IS SHAKIB AL HASSAN

Shakib Al Hasan has been named the new Test captain for Bangladesh and the upcoming Sri Lanka tour will be his first assignment in the new role. Mahmudullah will be the vice-captain and the BCB has not named a new coach yet.

"We can't really tell you the exact reason, but we felt that Mushfiqur needs to focus on his batting and remain pressure-free," BCB president Nazmul Hassan said.

Bangladesh's last assignment was their abysmal tour of South Africa where they were whitewashed in all three formats. Under Mushfiqur, they lost the two Tests by massive margins - 333 runs in Potchefstroom and an innings and 254 runs in Bloemfontein.

They lost seven of the nine Tests they played this year - losing two in New Zealand, one in India, drawing a two-match series in Sri Lanka 1-1, and drawing against Australia 1-1 at home before heading to South Africa.

Leading Bangladesh will not be a new role for Shakib but it has returned to him after over six years. He led them in nine Tests in the past. His first Test as captain was against West Indies in 2009 before leading the side for seven more matches in the first half of 2010, and one more Test in August 2011 against Zimbabwe. Bangladesh won only one of those matches - against West Indies in 2009 - and lost the remaining eight.

Meanwhile ,It was a long day for the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials and also the media at the Radisson Blu Water Garden hotel in the capital where the center of discussion was the Tigers head coach, both the outgoing one and incoming one.

Chandrika Hathurusingha, who has been appointed as the new coach of Sri Lanka, finally returned to the country after his resignation as the Tigers' coach and the media were eager to know the reason behind his decision.

After concluding a one-and-a-half hour meeting with BCB president Nazmul Hassan, CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and directors IH Mallick, Jalal Yunus and Khaled Mahmud, Hathurusingha maintained his silence by waving and heading for the elevator, depriving the awaiting pack of journalists a chance to speak to the best person to explain the reason behind his sudden resignation.

Though Hassan initially said it was just a courtesy call from Hathurusingha, in essence the Sri Lankan gave the BCB boss a few slivers of information, such as his frustration over Shakib Al Hasan's decision to rest for the South Africa Tests.

"What he has given importance to is the mindset that no matter how big a player is, he has to remember that the country is bigger than an individual. I may have a personal issue with someone but you can't harm the country for that. He urged us to explain that to our players and make them realise that," Hassan told .
Hassan informed that Hathurusingha was still giving his observations orally and would also provide his report on the South Africa tour by the next few days.

"He had some dissatisfaction over the South Africa tour right from the beginning and he also had problems with the players' mentality. For example Shakib, who did not go for the Test matches. He couldn't accept that as he is a different type of person and his question was why Shakib wouldn't play in such an important series despite being a vital player."

"Subsequently there were a few other things which he normally shares with us that did not happen in that period as there was a communication gap. Plus there were a few other incidents which took place in South Africa and after that he thought that he had nothing more to give to this team. So he thought it better to leave," Hassan added.

Hassan said that the board never asked the Sri Lankan to re-think his decision and added that Hathurusingha having taken the decision meant that he had no feelings left for the team.

According to Hassan, Hathurusingha said he was not sure whether he would get the amount of support which he received from the BCB in any other place in the future and that he had high hopes from the Bangladesh team.