Bangladesh needs a new Test captain

Bangladesh entered the Test series against South Africa riding high after their historic ODI series heist in which they managed to upstage a full-strength Proteas line-up by a margin of 2-1. Besides, six Test format specialists also left the rainbow nation at the start of the Test series to fulfill their IPL commitments. The venues assigned for the series further gave hope to the Tigers of uprooting the Proteas’ dominance on home soil.

However, they fell apart big time.

Bangladesh barely competed in the Test series apart from the first three days of the Durban Test. The South African spinners created history on this tour by taking all ten Bangladeshi wickets in an innings in Durban. Twice in two Test matches, Mominul Haque‘s men got bowled out for less than 100. The captain himself only managed thirteen runs in four innings, which interestingly is less than the number of wickets the man-of-the-series Keshav Maharaj took in the series.

Mominul’s dry run as captain

After Shakib Al Hasan decided to part ways with the Test team a couple of years ago, Mominul Haque deservedly got the keys to the ship given his Test performances since his debut.

However, ever since he took on the burden of captaincy, the Bangladesh captain has looked incredibly out of sorts. While the absence of several senior players, most notably Shakib, has been a significant factor, he barely evoked any glimpse of tactical shrewdness.

Except for a well-fought 88 in the Tiger’s historic Test match win in New Zealand, Mominul has only scored 77 runs in his last eleven innings stretching back to the home series against Pakistan, which they lost 2-0. His last Test hundred came in April last year against Sri Lanka, which happens to be his only century in his last twenty innings as captain.

Mominul has failed to impress anyone as a captain since he took the reins. In their latest assignment against South Africa, he was hesitant to bat first on a placid Durban wicket after winning the toss which threw the incentive to South Africa’s court. He failed to add Taijul Islam to his first XI despite the subcontinental nature of the Durban wicket. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was left completely bare after the South African middle-order took him on.

In the second Test, he failed yet again to utilise his fast bowlers on Day 1 in Gqeberha and persisted with the spin duo of Mehidy and Taijul for nearly two-thirds of the day.

These decisions can only be made by a captain who is reeling under pressure as a batter. It is high time Bangladesh opted for a tactical and inspiring leader from their ranks, especially in the likes of Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan himself.

– By Amritanshu Bandyopadhyay