TROUBLE AT THE TOP
Najmul is said to be unhappy with how he was removed as ODI captain © AFP
Bangladesh Test skipper Najmul Hossain is unlikely to continue as captain in the format following the two-match series against Sri Lanka.
The southpaw is expected to convey the decision to the board soon while whether he will announce it officially after the end of second Test at Colombo or later depends on the outcome of the discussion that is expected to take place with him and the board after he officially sent the letter to the board to inform about his desire to step down.
A close source, knowing the development, confirmed it to Cricbuzz on Saturday, adding that the southpaw is quite adamant about his decision after all that happened with him in the recent past.
“I think he will not continue as Test captain after the Test series against Sri Lanka,” said the source who knows Najmul from close quarters.
“I have known him for a long time, and as far as I understand he is not happy with everything that is going around with him,” he added on condition of anonymity.
It is understood that Najmul, who was handed Test captaincy for one year, spoke at length with those close to him and informed them about his decision.
BCB in the recent past hadsnatched away the ODI captaincy from Najmul, who earlier quit for T20I captaincy to concentrate on his batting, while also informing the board that he wants to continue as Test and ODI captain.
Najmul’s removal from ODI captaincy had raised quite a few eyebrows for the manner in which it played out. Initially, Najmul decided to quit as captaincy across formats but the then BCB president Faruque Ahmed managed to convince him to continue as Test and ODI captain and opt out as T20I captain in order to concentrate on his batting.
In that context, it came as a surprise to see BCB calling an emergency Zoom meeting on June 12 and later announced that Mehidy will replace Najmul as their 50-over format captain for the next one year. Previously, any discussions on captaincy was placed in the board meeting agenda, and later decisions were made regarding captaincy issues.
However, it was not the case as far as Najmul’s removal was concerned and he was informed about the matter when he was planning to sit with the national head coach Phil Simmons regarding the formation of the ODI squad for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which is scheduled after the ongoing Test series.
It was quite embarrassing for Najmul as he left without sitting with Simmons who was waiting for him to make plans for ODIs after BCB cricket operation chairman Nazmul Abedin called him to inform him about their decision to replace him with Mehidy.
If insiders are to be believed, it came as a shock for the southpaw as he was expecting to lead the ODI side in the coming days and even spoke about his plans with certain players regarding the Sri Lanka tour, and in the process providing them with a picture of their roles in the ODI set-up.
BCB president Aminul Islam, however, denied that Najmul was upset with the entire affair in public in the recent past and insisted that Najmul took everything very cordially after being informed about getting axed as ODI captain.
“Coming to Shanto’s point, his captaincy was not taken away, rather the decision was taken with everyone’s consent in the board. We decided to have a new and different plan. As we are currently playing lots of matches of all formats, we wanted to go with three different captains. As Litton and Shanto are captaining the T20 and Test side respectively, and Shanto is performing well in Tests, we thought that if Miraz leads the ODI side, Shanto will concentrate better in other formats. It was the board’s policy decision. It was our plan that one of us would talk to Shanto. That person later reported that he did his job and Shanto received the decision quite cordially. Maybe the situation went differently because of some false news and misunderstanding. To conclude, there are two sides of this situation: the decision was taken with the consent of everyone in the board and Shanto took it sportingly,” Aminul was quoted as saying in Bangla Daily Kaler Kantho during a video interview that was uploaded on June 21.
© Cricbuzz
