Miraz’s peculiar first day as ODI captain

Less than 24 hours after Najmul Hossain Shanto had spoken about the importance of long-term captaincy during a press conference at the BCB headquarters, Mehidy Hasan Miraz on Friday sat in the same room for his first media interaction since replacing Shanto as skipper in ODIs.

The decision to appoint Miraz as captain was taken on Thursday evening after an emergency Zoom meeting between BCB board directors and the all-rounder will begin his year-long tenure with the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka this month.

Shanto had reportedly been left in the dark about the development and was unaware that his ODI tenure would be coming to an end when he spoke to the media on Thursday as the Test skipper before the side's departure for Sri Lanka.

The left-hander was reportedly in talks with head coach Phil Simmons on Thursday about the ODI series when he got the news that he is not the captain anymore.

The unusual manner of Shanto losing his captaincy has roused more interest than who he has lost it to and it was reflected in Miraz's first press conference, as the new captain had to field more questions related to Shanto than what he intended to do as skipper in ODIs.

"He [Shanto] was the ODI captain for a term, which had ended [after the Champions Trophy]. They probably had conversations about the Test team. I am not sure if they spoke about the ODI team," Miraz said at the press conference yesterday about captaining a squad in Sri Lanka which was picked when Shanto was in charge.

"Fahim [Nazmul Abedeen] sir called me and said that they are going to give me the responsibility. He said that they don't have much time since we have to set up the ODI team quickly as the matches are not far away," he added.

The board's heavy-handed handling of the matter risks ruining the dressing room environment. But Miraz negated that possibility.

"I don't think it will have an effect in the dressing room. We are all playing for the country. These things won't bother Shanto and me. I helped him a lot during his captaincy. He will do the same. He will help me. We want to take Bangladesh forward," he said.

The captaincy change has laid bare that proper processes are not being followed in the board and is also a reflection of the instability that has crept in everywhere in cricket.

But Miraz said he and the other players are now prepared for any eventuality and also corroborated what Shanto had said about long-term captaincy a day before.

"I don't know how [the captaincy] was decided. It is usually done in a board meeting. Nobody can decide on their own. I think all of us are usually prepared mentally for any situation we may have to face.

"Longer term captaincy is always ideal, but I think it is up to the board [whether or not to extend his tenure till 2027 World Cup]. The thinking is to get the team out of the current struggle," he said in a peculiar first day as captain.