“Shakib’s form and ability in T20s is outstanding so he was almost chosen by default”

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All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has officially taken over as Bangladesh’s Twenty20 International captain.

The decision to hand Shakib the reins was taken at the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) first meeting of 2017.

Bangladesh were on the hunt for a new skipper in the shortest format after Mashrafe Mortaza confirmed that he would be retiring from Twenty20 Internationals after the recent series against Sri Lanka.

According to BCB president Nazmul Hassan, Shakib was among the frontrunners right from the get-go.

“There were other names that we considered but Shakib’s form and ability in T20s is outstanding so he was almost chosen by default,” he said.

In their meeting, the BCB also approved an increase in salary for the players that would be centrally contracted for the 2017 season.

Those who receive Grade A-plus contracts will see a 38 per cent hike in income to BDT 400,000 (USD 5000) per month.

As for the Grade A, B, C and D contracts, the salaries have been increased by 25 to 33 per cent.

But, Hassan stopped short of saying which players would receive central contracts this year.

“We are slightly confused by our grading system of the players,” he said. “They get more rating points by playing more matches but that sometimes isn’t fair to players like Mustafizur Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain and Mehedi Hasan who also perform but haven’t played many matches.

“So we will have a second look where we consider the players’ performance as well as our rating system.”

Players’ fees in Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals have also risen to BDT 350,000, BDT 200,000, and BDT 125,000 respectively.