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ASKING the right questions. Just who is this replacement? Is he a dark horse for Bangladesh?

Nurul Hasan, who is he? In 2016, the 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Nurul made his debut for his country. Despite being acknowledged as a technically excellent wicketkeeper, his career has been one of on-and-off periods. He had to wait for his turn since in the different configurations, Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das alternated holding the place. 

Mahmudullah was replaced as Bangladesh’s T20 captain by Nurul Hasan prior to the start of the T20I series against Zimbabwe next week. Nurul seems like a strange option for the position—he has only played 33 T20Is, in addition to seven Tests and six ODIs. Here is a look at how he got there, even though it looks to have been a quick experiment. 

Nurul typically proves that he belongs at the highest level when given the opportunity.

In the most recent Test series, he successfully handled the West Indies’ pace attack while successfully finishing two challenging chases in the ODIs.

Despite his poor batting statistics overall, Tamim Iqbal was particularly impressed with Nurul after the West Indies performance, saying, “Apart from the bowlers, I have to say [Nurul] was the top performer. He has put up a very strong case going forward.” 

Nurul – history of partial experienced captaincy; seasoned

White-ball cricket at the domestic level is where Nurul has most of his leadership experience.

In 49 white-ball games and sporadically in first-class cricket’s Khulna Division and South Zone, he has served as the captain of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. In a 2019 BPL match, he also served as the Chattogram Challengers’ captain. There is therefore some experience there. 

When naming Nurul as the Bangladesh T20I captain on Friday, Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s chairman of cricket operations, made the following statement: “He has captained in domestic cricket, so he has leadership qualities. He is an aggressive character who can motivate the team,” impressive motivational leader he apparently is.

However, it is only a temporary solution. Nurul is now only ahead in the three games played in Zimbabwe. Mahmudullah is taking a break, but it’s unclear whether he’ll take the helm for the Asia Cup in late August. The BCB has not yet indicated if Shakib Al Hasan will succeed. 

Obviously and quite observably said. The cricket community is aware that Nurul is merely keeping Shakib’s seat warm. Mahmudullah’s dismissal had been anticipated for some time, particularly following Bangladesh’s performance in the T20 World Cup last year, where they lost both of their Super 12s games and suffered painful qualification matches that included a loss to Scotland. 

None the less it must clearly be iterated, the BCB had argued that there wouldn’t be enough time after the T20 World Cup to find a replacement, therefore Mahmudullah remained as captain for the following three series.

Only one of Bangladesh’s eight games during that time span was won.

The way things turned out has also been influenced by Mahmudullah’s own bat form.

Since scoring 31 not out against the West Indies in Sharjah in October 2021, he has not reached the 30-run threshold. Ten innings total, with a best of 22.

Following Mominul Haque’s departure prior to the West Indies tour last month, Shakib has already assumed leadership of the Test team.

It demonstrated that despite Shakib’s ICC suspension in 2019 and his numerous run-ins with the bosses over the years, the BCB has no concerns about him. 

So what’s next?

For personal reasons, Shakib requested a break, which clearly just complicated matters.

According to reports, Shakib would have been selected as the T20I captain if he hadn’t changed his mind about visiting Zimbabwe. However, while he was away, the BCB talked about using Nurul and Litton as the T20I leaders. Litton captained the team in a T20I in New Zealand last year, but at the moment, the BCB appears more interested in Nurul’s leadership abilities. 

Bangladesh needs to play their best cards now

This team will represent Bangladesh in any format for the first time without any of their senior cricketers. This month, Tamim made the T20Is retirement announcement. In the last 15 years, they have only played eleven T20Is without Mahmudullah. For this T20I series, Mushfiqur is also rested, though it’s unclear whether the BCB gave him the day off or if it’s a portent of a longer hiatus from the format.

So that they may enter the Asia Cup, the New Zealand tri-series, and the World Cup with some improvement in the T20I side, the BCB is hopeful that one of the recruits or recalled players can step up swiftly.