Najmul finally stepping down as T20 captain
‘Captaincy’ has been a regular topic of discussion in Bangladesh’s cricket for quite a long time now. This all started from 2014, when Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was made captain of the T20 team. That means, it has been going on since Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) opted for choosing different captains for different formats of the game.
Let’s say for example Shakib Al Hasan is the team captain for one format but, he won’t be playing in a particular series then there arises the discussion who will be the captain then? Then when Tamim Iqbal decided to retire in the middle of a series the question arose, who will guide the ODI team?
This way, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton Das have also had a good idea on the subject of captaincy during the last few years. Litton as the captain has also steered the team to victory in several major series in emergency situations.
Before Najmul Hossain Shanto was made the captain in all three formats of the game last February, Shakib had also handled the responsibility in three formats for a brief period.
However, after switching between Shakib and Tamim for some time, when Najmul took charge in all three formats everyone thought this might be the end of discussions regarding the subject of captaincy. But, within just one year Bangladesh cricket team is opting for different captains for different format again.
A source from BCB confirmed that Najmul has finally informed BCB about his decision that he won’t lead the team in T20 anymore. And, if BCB wants, he would continue as the captain in Test and ODIs. BCB has also agreed to his wish. In other words, Najmul will not be the captain of Bangladesh team in the upcoming T20 series against Zimbabwe at home in March.
BCB president Faruque Ahmed also confirmed the news Wednesday saying, “Shanto (Najmul) has finally said that he will no longer be the captain of the T20 team. We have also agreed to that. However, since we don’t have any T20 games at the moment, we have time and we won’t be appointing a new captain right now. If there is no issue with injuries problem, Shanto will remain the captain in ODIs and Tests. That’s what we have decided.”
Although no one has been named as the T20 captain yet, who can become the captain has already been finalised unofficially. After winning the T20 series in West Indies 3-0 under Litton’s captaincy last month, the decision has become easier for the BCB. If all goes well, Litton will be the one to call the toss for Bangladesh in the next T20 series in March.
At the same time, it’s not that Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s name is not in the discussion. His name was also in discussion while deciding about captaincy in the T20 series against West Indies. However, Miraz’s presence in the T20 team being disputable is going against him.
Some can also include the name of Taskin Ahmed in the discussion. But, Taskin is a pace bowler and prone to injuries on top of that. He has to be given rest now and then for that. So, Taskin is not on BCB’s mind as a potential captain.
It was first reported during the South Africa series last October that Najmul does not want to be the captain any longer in any format due to ‘personal’ reasons. The ‘personal’ reasons were to focus more on his batting and to keep aloof from the negative discussions on social media.
Although there has been some criticism over his batting since taking over as the captain, Najmul’s leadership on the field has always been praised. This is also the reason why BCB requested him to continue as the captain even after he expressed his wish to step down.
That’s why Najmul was retained as captain for the ODI series against Afghanistan in Sharjah in the beginning of last November. However, he missed the final match of the three-match series suffering a groin injury. He also missed the West Indies tour because of that.
Then Miraz handled the responsibilities as the backup captain in the Test and ODI series against West Indies. Meanwhile, Litton as the captain showed his ‘magic’ in the T20 series during that tour.