bangladesh hands odi
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Bangladesh hands ODI captaincy to Litton Das, drops Mehidy

Bangladesh has a new face leading its One-day International side. Litton Das has officially taken over ODI captaincy duties from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board confirming the change on Wednesday.

The decision comes not long after Bangladesh suffered a series defeat against Zimbabwe earlier this month. It is worth noting that the shift only affects the ODI format. Najmul Hossain will keep his position as Test captain, so the two roles remain separate.

Litton was already Bangladesh’s T20 captain before this appointment. With this move, he now leads two of the three formats, while the board continues its approach of splitting captaincy responsibilities. Board president Tamim Iqbal explained that having separate leaders for white-ball and red-ball cricket was part of preparations for next year’s ODI World Cup, which South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe will jointly host.

Tamim spoke positively about Mehidy’s time as captain, highlighting his strong results across several series. Still, he pointed to a dip in Mehidy’s batting form as the main reason behind the change. He mentioned having a conversation with Mehidy directly and said the outgoing captain was understanding of the board’s decision.

Mehidy stepped into the ODI captaincy role about a year ago, replacing Najmul, who had briefly captained the team in all three formats. During his tenure, Bangladesh secured ten wins out of twenty ODIs. The early stretch of his captaincy was difficult, with the team losing several matches in a row. Things improved significantly afterward, as Bangladesh strung together four consecutive series wins at home against the West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Australia. That momentum slowed following the away series loss to Zimbabwe.

This is not new territory for Litton either. He previously captained Bangladesh in seven ODIs, a stretch that included a memorable series win over India in 2022.

Tamim also addressed questions surrounding Bangladesh’s proposed home series against India in September. He said he remained hopeful the tour would proceed, describing Bangladesh as a safe environment for visiting teams. He added that talks with India’s cricket board had been going well and that more clarity was expected soon.

This uncertainty follows an earlier standoff, when Bangladesh’s previous board opted out of playing in India during this year’s T20 World Cup due to security concerns tied to a Bangladeshi bowler’s IPL release. Tamim acknowledged that some decisions were beyond his control, since government involvement plays a role too, but said an update should come soon.

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