The incumbent Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has hinted at international retirement and there are chances that the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 originally slated to be played in Pakistan might turn out to be his last assignment.
There is a lot of furore going on in Bangladesh cricket at the moment and Shakib finds himself at the centre of all of it. In an interview with Bangladesh's T-Sports, the 36-year-old star allrounder revealed his future plans and clarified that he is not looking to carry on shouldering the responsibility of ODI captaincy after the World Cup in India.
"As far as international career is concerned, what I see at this moment it is up to 2025 Champions Trophy that is the ODI format. The T20 format is up to 2024 World Cup and that's it. As far as Test goes, may be sooner, maybe after the World Cup," told Shakib.
"As far as reality goes, I will lead till this World Cup and I won't lead in ODIs after that. Let me clear one thing - I resigned as captain on [September ] 17th, and when I did that, I did not know that this kind of situation was coming up," he added.
Shakib also mentioned that he didn't want to take up the reins of captaincy again after he resigned but the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board Nazmul Hassan Papon and the team management asked him to lead the side.
"Papon (Nazmul) bhai and team management said that they need me as captain. Not for me, but for the team, and I agreed.
"If I am not the captain, life is much easier for me. What value is captaincy adding to my career? If I were not the captain, it would be easier for me. I would bowl for 10 overs, bat, and stay relaxed," he said.
The Bangladesh captain also opened up on the entire controversy surrounding former skipper Tamim Iqbal's non-selection in the World Cup squad and termed Tamim's recent statements as "childish" in nature.
"Mahmudullah Riyad bhai wasn't there, but suddenly he came to the World Cup team. I felt he could do that, but his dedication, his responsibility for the team, and his urge to play for the team, those things were noticed by all. So there is a difference," said Shakib.
"Also, it's not my responsibility to select the whole team. If that were the case, I would have been able to announce the team after being captain a day before the Asia Cup. You have to go through many processes, things, and facts, not only performance. On and off the field, the dressing room, the team meetings, and the atmosphere, many things are taken into account before making the team.
"As I said, I have not discussed anything like that (Tamim will bat down the order or will not be picked in the opening game), so I don't know where the question is coming from. If someone has said that, I am sure an authorized person has done it, and he was informing early so that it's best for both parties. I don't see anything bad in this. I am sure someone would not say something like that to create harm.
"So if someone made that proposal, is there something wrong with it? Or is it like you can't make a proposal like that? Like you have to tell a particular person that 'you do whatever you want?' It's childish behaviour where someone is saying 'it's my bat, only I will play'."
