Captaincy question for Afghanistan Test

Bangladesh Cricket Board is currently in a conundrum fixing a stand-in captain for Bangladesh’s upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan as regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan is set to miss out with an injury.

Shakib injured his right index finger during the second One-Day International of their three-match series against Ireland in England, and that injury would take around six weeks to heal.

That means the all-rounder will have to sit out the Afghanistan Test, which will start on June 14. However, he should return for the ODI and Twenty20 Internationals series, which will be in July.

“As he has a fracture on his finger, it will take six weeks to recover. He might miss the Test against Afghanistan. Hopefully, he will be back for the white-ball series,” Bangladesh National Team chief selector Minhajul Abedin said.

With Shakib out, it was assumed that Liton Das, who is the official vice-captain of the Test side, would take up the responsibility.

However, according to reports, the wicketkeeper-batter is unwilling to lead the side in the Test, which has left BCB searching for other options.

The other two possible captains for the one-off Test are Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto.

Miraz has captaincy experience from age-level cricket and the Bangladesh Premier League, while Najmul has also led several teams in different domestic tournaments.

“We have heard that he does not want to lead the side but we have not received anything official from Liton regarding it. So, until we get that, it is difficult to comment on this. But if he eventually decides not to lead the side, in that case, we have to choose Miraz or Shanto,” a selector, citing anonymity, told a daily newspaper.

BCB Director Akram Khan, on Sunday, said that it was the board’s decision who the captain would be.

“This is completely the board’s decision. They will decide who the captain will be. There is nothing to say about that now,” he told the media.

When asked about Miraz or Najmul leading the side, Akram said that there were 5-6 candidates for the position.

“They (Najmul & Miraz) are future players. When they were picked, they had the captaincy qualities. We have almost 5-6 captains. It depends on the current captain, selector, and coach. They will make the decision. There are 5-6 candidates,” he said.

Minhajul had also said the same when talking about the captaincy vacany.

“The board will decide who the captain will be, not the selectors. We will submit the squad for the Afghanistan series next week, and practice will start on May 29,” he said last week.

The chief selector also said that they will not experiment with the squad as Bangladesh lost their only Test against Afghanistan so far in 2019.

“There will be no experiments regarding the side. Afghanistan are a very good side. We have the bad experience of losing the last Test against them. So, they will not be taken lightly. The best possible side will be given against Afghanistan,” Minhajul told the media.

He added, “As we will not get our best player, our captain, we probably will be a bit morally down. The players we will pick have our confidence. It’s a very important Test.”