Shakib Al Hasan in line for T20I captaincy

Shakib Al Hasan is the strongest candidate to replace Mashrafe Mortaza as Bangladesh's T20I captain, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan, who said he wanted different captains for each format.

The BCB had split the international captaincy in 2014, when Mushfiqur Rahim was stripped off the ODI and T20I leadership. Mashrafe became captain in the limited-overs formats and transformed Bangladesh into a competitive unit in two years. But now that Mashrafe has announced his retirement from T20Is, Hassan swiftly named his choice as successor, though Shakib has to be endorsed by the board of directors.

"Shakib is the most likely candidate to take the T20 captaincy," Hassan said. "We always had five candidates. Since Mashrafe and Mushfiqur are already captains, we only had Tamim, Mahmudullah and Shakib as the remaining ones. Shakib's mental attitude and performance shows that he has matured, and is a full grown-up. He is ahead of the other candidates."

Hassan said Mashrafe will remain ODI captain. "There's no chance of changing the ODI captaincy. One year ago we thought the Champions Trophy will be his last tournament, but now it seems he can play more.

"He will play as long as he is fit. There's no chance for him to be out of the squad. It is a different issue if the captain or coach thinks someone can play in his place."

Hassan also revealed a conversation he had with Tamim Iqbal, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mashrafe in Colombo on Monday. He said he gave them a guarantee of a long-term place in the Bangladesh team, unless disciplinary issues arose. ESPNcricinfo learned the players understood that it was a confidential conversation, but Hassan divulged many of the contents of the meeting.

"On the eve of the first T20, I spoke to Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mashrafe. I told them that nobody can drop you given how much you've contributed to the team. At least until I am around. You have to make your own exit plan. If you play badly for a game or two, or even for a year, you won't be dropped. Except disciplinary issues, you won't be dropped for performance.

"Who would drop Shakib? Tamim has been one of our best batsmen. Mushfiqur is our batting pillar. He is like our Rahul Dravid. Who would drop them? No question about it. Mashrafe is beyond performance. He doesn't have to bat or bowl well. He has a lot of something different. It is hard to find another Mashrafe. His leadership quality, and his love for team and the country is a rare quality. I am not saying others don't have it but his is of a different level."