DHAKA, June 23: Bangladesh have named fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza as captain for the forthcoming tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe after sacking Mohammad Ashraful for the team´s failure in the World Twenty20 and also to allow him to focus on his batting. Shakib Al Hasan, the world´s No.1 allrounder in ODIs, has been named the vice-captain.[break]
"The board wants to sincerely thank Mohammad Ashraful for his contribution as skipper," Mohammed Jalal Yunus, the BCB´s Media & Communications Committee Chairman, said. "The decision to replace him was taken with the intention of relieving the load on Ashraful so that he can play his natural game."
Mashrafe has been Bangladesh´s strike bowler over the last few years and has turned in match-winning performances in ODIs. His four-wicket haul all but knocked India out of the World Cup in 2007 and he returned similar figures in the team´s only victory against New Zealand, in Mirpur last year.
The tour of West Indies begins on July 3 with a three-day match against West Indies A. The team will play two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20.
Meanwhile, an official of BCB told AFP that Ashraful has been removed for his poor batting. "Mohammad Ashraful has been removed from the captaincy because of poor batting," an official, who declined to be named, said via telephone.
The 24-year-old middle order batsman bore the brunt of the blame for the team´s disastrous performance in the competition in England which saw them exit after the first round of play. Fans gathered at Zia International Airport in Dhaka and chanted "resign, resign" to Ashraful, prompting him to publicly apologise for their poor play but he said he would not quit as captain.
Ashraful was appointed to the role two years ago but the team has failed to make an impact the world scene under his captaincy. He replaced Habibul Bashar, a decade older than him, with authorities promising a "new era" of performance in the cricket-mad but under-performing South Asian nation, which got Test status eight years ago.
In England this month, the team had hoped to repeat or better their performance in the previous World Twenty20 tournament when they made it through to the final eight teams. However, Bangladesh lost to both India and Ireland in the first round of play this month which saw them fly home.
Ashraful himself, considered one of the team´s best players, made only 11 and 14 runs in the two matches. The team´s Australian coach, Jamie Siddons, criticised Bangladeshi players for refusing to listen to his guidance and for "ridiculous" batting in the tournament.