BCB mulling over late captaincy decision before Ireland Tests

The Bangladesh Cricket Board appears to be on a sticky wicket in filling the Test captaincy role, left vacant by former skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.

Shanto let go of the captaincy, citing BCB's policy to appoint three captains for three different formats.

"I don't want to continue as captain in this format…If the cricket board feels they will continue with three captains in three formats, that will be their decision," he had said in June this year when announcing his decision to leave the captaincy role.

The BCB is facing a dilemma as Shanto is at the top of the list of players they identified as taking over the Test captaincy role. However, reports suggest that Shanto had already rejected the idea of taking on the role again.

Cricket operations chairman Nazmul Abedeen Fahim did not want to comment on the captaincy scenario when contacted.

It leaves the BCB looking into the merits of the other captaincy candidates in Litton Das, Mominul Haque and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

However, with Miraz already in charge of the ODI role and with the ODI team still not finding its feet, it remains a difficult prospect to hand him the Test team as well. BCB president Aminul Islam said during the third ODI against the West Indies that there was no hard and fast rule to appointing three different captains, which keeps both Miraz and Litton in the conversation.

Litton, who is leading the T20I unit that has done well under his leadership, was asked about the Test captaincy role yesterday.

"It's hard to say. I haven't been informed about anything yet. If they [board] think I'm suitable, of course they'll talk to me. Being the Test captain is a big honor, and I don't think anyone would refuse. But there's been no communication so far," Litton said yesterday.

Previously, Mehidy Miraz too had told media that if the board asks, he would be willing to take the role. Interestingly, former Test skipper Mominul Haque had previously told this newspaper he did not want to captain in Tests anymore. Yesterday, Mominul told this newspaper he was willing to discuss if an offer comes.

"If an offer comes, I will discuss and think about it. There has been no discussion yet," Mominul informed.

Shanto tendered his resignation in June and the BCB had enough time to mull over options. Yet, with the Ireland Tests starting on November 11, it is only now that the board has geared into action to solve the captaincy dilemma.

Previously, Shanto had been given Test captaincy for half of the Test cycle. Even Miraz's ODI captaincy is for only one year. Former captain Khaled Mahmud Sujon believes more importance should be placed on such decisions instead of working things out ahead of a series.

"Not everyone is captain material. Shanto and Litton are very good captain material and since Shanto didn't want to continue, and Mominul may not want it, Litton maybe the choice as I don't see anyone else in the current team. It's always at the last moment that we think about captaincy, but a player also needs to be ready for the assignment, it can't be that he is announced during the team announcement. It is important to give the captain that time to be mentally ready. I think the captaincy should be given for a longer term. It's only when you're unsure that you appoint a captain for a short period," he said.

Will BCB be able to convince Shanto now? One cricketer was not convinced. "He said he doesn't want it so how will they convince him? I don't know…maybe if circumstances change," he said.