BCB president backs Mushfiqur Rahim to continue leading the Test team

Bangladesh lost the Test series to Pakistan

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur’s leadership skills came under the scanner after the recently concluded Test series at home against Pakistan which they lost after putting up a good fight in the first Test match. But, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan has backed the wicketkeeper batsman to lead against India in the one-off Test next month.

At the same time, he also acknowledged that for Mushfiqur to keep continuing as a captain, he would probably have to give up on his wicketkeeping duties. "I don't think there needs to be any change prior to the India series," Hassan told The Daily Star. "Let us see what happens. But we will definitely have to come to a solution by the end of this year. We feel that for a player to keep, bat and captain a side together is too stressful. For him to stand behind the wicket all day and then play a long innings ... the whole scenario can become a little demanding.”

"We would want to lessen the burden on him. It's still not decided as to how we are going to do that. But the obvious move would be for him to compromise with either one duty: keeping or captaincy. We will discuss the issue with him before taking any steps."

He also emphasized that right now they don’t have a suitable replacement for Mushfiqur. "I personally felt that both the captaincy and the performance of our players in the last Test was poor. We are not happy. The mentality of the players wasn't right. One can't just hit the ball and survive two straight days. With regards to Test captaincy, if we can get a substitute, we will think about it. But at this point of time we don't have any."