BANGLADESH TOUR OF SRI LANKA, 2025
Apart from the captaincy rumours, Bangladesh are also concerned about Najmul’s fitness after he took a blow to a finger. © BCB
Ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka, skipper Najmul Hossain hogged the limelight, not because of his twin hundreds in the opening Test at Galle but regarding his future as Test captain of Bangladesh. Since Cricbuzz revealed Najmul is reconsidering Test captaincy, the skipper chose to play it safe.
Najmul did not rule out the possibility of quitting captaincy following the Test but at the same time did not want to say anything that would create a situation which would make them lose their focus from their job in hand.
Ever since Mehidy Hasan was given the ODI captaincy, Najmul’s future as skipper was thrown into doubt. “That discussion has been happening since before the series,” Najmul said with a smile. “Let it (discussion about his future as Test captain) happen. I don’t want to comment on this. There’s a Test match in two days, and I want to focus on that and want to contribute both as captain and as a batter. Let the discussion be a discussion,” he said.
Najmul said that he was not looking for any ideal time to give up captaincy but added that he will do something that he feels will benefit the team. “The best moment would have been the last Test match and after scoring back-to-back tons as captain-I could have said something then.
“The thing is to do something which will be better for the team, but at the moment there is no need to talk a lot about it and it’s a request to everyone don’t make hue and cry for it. There needs to be discussion or criticism because it is an important Test match and I hope that we can play well in the Test series.”
Najmul though added that it was difficult to lose captaincy out of nowhere.
“It’s difficult and it should not be the case and this kind discussion (removing captaincy) should not be before any Test match or rather for any format and I would think this kind of discussion should take place at least seven or eight days( before announcing any squad) and the earlier the better but we are all professional players and would see how we can contribute in that position.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh team management will be having sleepless nights as Najmul injured his finger while taking slip catches during practice that forced him to sit without training at Colombo on Monday.
This is the second time in a week Shanto has taken a hit on the finger and he batted with pain in Galle. It is understood that the team management is keeping him under observation. The second Test is scheduled at SSC Colombo from June 27.
© Cricbuzz
