Tamim Iqbal succeeds Mashrafe Mortaza as Bangladesh ODI captain

Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has been appointed as the new captain of Bangladesh's One-Day International (ODI) side, the country's cricket board has confirmed. 

The 30-year-old opener takes over the reins from pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza, who stepped down from the position after third and final ODI of the three-match series against Zimbabwe which the former side went on to win by 3-0. 

The news of Iqbal's appointment was given by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan following a meeting of the board on Sunday.

Announcing the news, Hassan said that Bangladesh's achievement in the ODIs would not have been possible without Mortaza leading the team, however, adding that it is the time for someone else to captain the side. 

"Masrafe Bin Mortaza has recently stepped down from the ODI captaincy after a fantastic tenure.I firmly believe that the achievements in the one-day format would not have been possible without him leading the team. Now is the time for someone else to take over the reign and carry Bangladesh forward," the International Cricket Council (ICC) official website quoted Hassan as saying. 

"We have selected Tamim as captain expecting him to lead the team long-term," he added. 

Notably, Tamim had last led the Bangladesh ODI side during their tour of Sri Lanka in July 2019 which Mortaza missed due to an injury. The opener will now look to improve on the result of the series which Bangladesh went on to lose by 0-2--with Tamim managing to score just 21 runs in three innings.

On Friday, Mortaza had announced that he would resign from his position as an ODI captain after the conclusion of the Zimbabwe series. The 3-0 series win saw Mortaza complete 50 victories as captain.