Mominul no longer wants to be Test captain
Mominul Haque has informed Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan that he no longer wants to be the captain of the Test team.
He said this during a meeting with Nazmul at the BCB president’s residence in Dhaka on Tuesday. After the meeting, Mominul spoke to the media and said that failure to contribute with the bat is the main reason for his decision to relinquish captaincy.
“I am failing to contribute for the team as a captain. I feel that now it’s time to give the captaincy to someone else. I have said what I had to say, now the decision is up to them (BCB).”
Mominul said that the BCB president personally asked him to continue as the captain, but he doesn’t want to stay as skipper any longer. The BCB is expected to take the final decision over the captaincy situation during their next board meeting on 2 June.
Mominul was handed the Test captaincy in 2019 after the then Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan got banned by the ICC. Under his leadership, Bangladesh has played 17 Tests and won three. Bangladesh’s historic Test win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui was one of those victories. The remaining two wins came against Zimbabwe.
Mominul is going through a lean patch with the bat. He has reached the double figure mark only once in his last nine innings. In Bangladesh’s 0-1 series defeat against Sri Lanka, Mominul made 2, 9 and 0 in his three innings.
Mominul said, “When you play well, as a captain you can encourage the players even if the team has lost. I am not playing well, the team is also not doing well. It’s very tough to continue as a captain in this situation. If I think honestly, I feel it would be better to not continue as the captain.”
Mominul had a discussion with the BCB president after the second Test against Sri Lanka. There, he also told Nazmul that the pressure of captaining the side is negatively affecting his batting.
Mominul was named as captain for Bangladesh’s forthcoming series against West Indies. If Mominul is removed from the post, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is the likeliest to replace him. Reportedly, he has already held preliminary discussions with the board about becoming the next Test captain.