Dhaka: Bangladesh on Sunday appointed opening batsman Tamim Iqbal as captain of their One-Day-International (ODI) team. The left-handed batsman replaced Mashrafe Mortaza.
Mashrafe stepped down from the post of captaincy this week after the third and final ODI of a three-match series against Zimbabwe. He led the side for more than five years.
"The board has unanimously selected Tamim Iqbal as our new ODI captain," Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan announced at a press conference after a meeting of the governing body's board of directors.
"We thought of appointing a captain for a short duration and then giving the job to someone else next year. But we finally decided against a short-term appointment. We hope Tamim would serve for a long term," he added.
Tamim does have captaincy experience as he led Bangladesh in three ODIs against Sri Lanka last July in the absence of injured Mashrafe but failed to inspire the team with Bangladesh losing all three matches.
His fresh tenure as ODI captain will start with the one-off match against Pakistan on April 1.
