Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan has been made Bangladesh's T20I captain only for the upcoming three-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. He replaces Mahmudullah, who had been the captain in the shortest format since 2019, but lost out on the leadership role due to a lack of performance and results.
The BCB held a meeting with Mahmudullah on Friday to inform him of the decision.
The BCB has made several changes in the T20I squad for Zimbabwe, resting Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, who had earlier taken leave from the entire white-ball tour. Mushfiqur skipped the West Indies tour to perform Hajj.
ESPNcricinfo understands that the appointment of Nurul is a stopgap arrangement until Shakib, who is also Bangladesh's Test captain, takes over the captaincy full-time when he returns to the side for the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to begin at the end of August.
Parvez Hossain Emon, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hasan Mahmud have been included in the squad. Mehidy is a Test and ODI regular, while Shanto played all three matches in the ODI series against West Indies. The uncapped Emon is a left-handed opener while Mahmud, who has played three ODIs and a T20I, is a seamer recovering from a long-term injury.
Mahmud also returned to the ODI side which continues to miss Yasir Ali and Mohammad Saifuddin due to injuries. Ebadot Hossain has been dropped from the side.
"We have been discussing our performances in Tests and T20Is which have not been up to the mark recently," Jalal Yunus, BCB's cricket operations chairman, said. "We have made a change in the captaincy. Nurul Hasan will lead the side in Zimbabwe. We have informed the decision to Mahmudullah in this meeting. We have made several changes in the team, and have rested Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan to try out a few young players."
Mahmudullah led the side in 43 T20Is - the most of any Bangladesh captain in the format - winning 16 and losing 26 matches. His most significant results were the series wins over Australia and New Zealand at home last year. But it is argued that winning these two series, which were played on raging turners at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, was detrimental to Bangladesh's progress in the T20 World Cup where they scraped through the qualification phase, and lost all their Super 12 matches.
A change of captaincy was in the offing at the time, but due to a Pakistan series coming up in November 2021, the BCB was gun-shy. Bangladesh lost the T20I series 3-0, and have gone on to win one game out of eight since the World Cup. Mahmudullah made 103 runs in these eight matches, at an average of 12.87 and a strike rate of 101.98, and his captaincy once again came into question during the West Indies tour earlier this month.
Nurul has a fairly unremarkable record over 33 T20Is, scoring 271 runs at an average of 12.90 and a strike rate of 111.98. It is understood that the BCB has been impressed by his leadership skills in domestic cricket, where he has also shown excellent form with the bat of late. He was one of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club's best performers during their run to the Dhaka Premier League (50-overs) title earlier this year, scoring 483 runs at 96.60 including a hundred and four fifties.
Bangladesh T20I squad: Nurul Hasan (capt & wk), Munim Shahriar, Anamul Haque, Litton Das, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Parvez Hossain Emon
In: Parvez Hossain Emon, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Hasan Mahmud
Out: Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan
Bangladesh ODI squad: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Litton Das, Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam
IN: Mushfiqur Rahim, Hasan Mahmud
OUT: Ebadot Hossain