“He had not informed us about his departure from the captaincy before the World Cup. We believed that [the interview] “It was not official,” said Jalal Yunus, BCB president of cricket operations.

He had first returned home to Dhaka a day after Bangladesh played Pakistan in Kolkata on October 31, before doing the same after Sri Lanka’s match in Delhi on November 6. Litton was back in Pune, venue of Bangladesh’s match against Australia, just three days later.

ESPNcricinfo learned that the general opinion among influential BCB officials is that Litton lost focus during the World Cup, although he was given both breaks for “humanitarian” reasons.

That potentially leaves Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz as candidates for the captaincy. Shanto, who had led Bangladesh when Shakib missed the World Cup match against India due to a quadriceps injury, will also deputize as captain in their final match against Australia, to be played on November 11.

As for Shakib’s future in both Tests and ODIs, the BCB will discuss it with him soon. Before the World Cup, comments about the ODI captaincy aside, he had even outlined his retirement plans, saying that he would announce his retirement “after the 2025 Champions Trophy”.

Therefore, with Shakib and Tamim potentially absent against New Zealand, it would leave Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque as the only experienced batsmen, even though the BCB wants to play with a full squad. The bowling unit’s availability will largely depend on its physical upgrades after the World Cup.