The curious case of Naim

Following a poor run of form and even poorer use of the player, Mohammad Naim was benched from the Minister Dhaka XI in their match against Khulna Tigers in the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League on Wednesday.

Naim, who has been a regular feature for Bangladesh up top since his debut in 2020, has only accumulated 44 runs in six innings in this edition of the BPL. His highest score of 15 came against Sylhet Sunrisers, an innings where he played 30 deliveries.

But what has been even sub-standard is the way Dhaka have used him. Naim was played at number three for the first match, at four in the next, and was back to number three for the next two.

But then, he was downgraded to number 7, and in Dhaka’s match against Chattogram Challengers, Naim was dropped to 8 as he came to the crease even after leg-spinner Qais Ahmed.

Naim, often criticised for his strike rate and intent in T20s, displayed why it was a bad decision as he scored two runs off five deliveries when his team needed eight off the last over.

In their latest match against Khulna, Imranuzzaman opened the innings, but Naim, who played 26 T20Is in 2021 with only being dropped once, was not given a shot at his preferred position.

The most curious thing about the whole thing is that in both the national team and Dhaka, Naim has the same skipper- Mahmudullah Riyad. While Mahmudullah has backed him for the national team when Naim’s approach was questionable, it looks like the case is not the same for the franchise side.

In the national side, players like Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar, who prefer to play as openers, have been moved down the pecking order for Naim. But in this BPL, Naim has become the pawn in the team’s planning.

Former Bangladesh batsman Aftab Ahmed believes that such use of Naim is hurting the player and the national team.

“Maybe they had a plan or a lacking for which they used Naim down the order. But I still feel that it is absolutely crucial to play a player in their preferred position. If they can’t score runs there, then you may drop them. But when he (Naim) is not playing in his position, it’s difficult for him to score. It is definitely bad for the national team,” he told The Business Post.

The former batsman added, “Look, Shadman is not playing BPL because he is not considered a T20 batsman. But when you pick Naim in your team, you must have picked him for a reason. Then it is important to play a player in his preferred position.”

After the match against Chattogram, Dhaka head coach Mizanur Rahman explained why Naim batted down the order, but it was in no way convincing.

“Of course, Naim is an opening batsman. But our opening pair has Tamim and Shahzad, so we put Naim at three to come in when Tamim gets out. But as the overs progress, someone else is sent ahead to score quickly. We try to match the left-right combination. Maybe that’s why Naim was sent down the order,” he said.

Where Naim has failed and then was dropped in the BPL, newbies like Munim Shahriar have impressed in the limited opportunities he has had so far. With Tamim Iqbal not in the picture for the next six months, Naim was a sure candidate for opening for the Tigers in the upcoming Afghanistan series.

But with poor performances and the musical chair played with his batting position, Naim might just find that slipping away.