Shakib Al Hasan says he does not relish the Bangladesh captaincy role

Waseem Ahmed 08:30 01/09/2019
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  • Bangladesh T20I and Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan.

    Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has expressed his disinterest in captaining the Bangladesh side and stated that he would rather concentrate on improving his own game.

    The all-rounder is currently leading the side in the Test and T20I formats and is in line to take over the ODI captaincy as well once current incumbent Mashrafe Mortaza hangs up his boots from international cricket.

    However, the 32-year-old has revealed that he is not mentally prepared to lead the national side in any format.

    “I am not even mentally prepared to lead in Tests and T20s,” Shakib told Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo.

    “But the team is not in a good shape, so I understand that I have to lead to get it back on track. Otherwise, I am not really interested in leading in any format. I can focus on myself if I am not captaining, which would help the team.

    “I want to see the younger lot to take responsibility. Unless you give them responsibility, you won’t know what they can do. The World Test Championship and T20 World Cup are up ahead, so we should plan for the next four years.”

    Shakib Al Hasan.

    Shakib Al Hasan.

    Shakib’s star rose significantly in the recent 2019 World Cup with the Bangladesh all-rounder finishing as the tournament’s third-highest run-getter with 606 runs in eight matches. But while the southpaw enjoyed a dream run in the tournament, he has pointed to skipper Mortaza’s poor display in England as one of the potential pitfalls of captaincy.

    Mortaza was able to pick up just the one wicket in eight games with the team ultimately finishing eighth in the 10-team tournament despite Shakib’s heroics.

    “I had the belief that we could go further in this World Cup, and it may have been possible if we had contributions from everyone,” Shakib stated.

    “When a player doesn’t perform, he thinks more about himself than the team, which creates the problem. I think it happened in Mashrafe bhai’s case.

    “It was a big issue, for himself and the team, that the captain wasn’t performing. The captain has to perform, but we were behind in that aspect. It wasn’t impossible (to reach the semi-finals); we made a good start to the World Cup, but we couldn’t hold on to it.”

    Despite his apathy towards captaincy, Shakib will now have to lead the Bangladesh side in the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan that gets underway in Chattogram on September 5.

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