Returning Test captain Shanto puts country before self

Bangla Press Desk:  Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said on Monday that he chose the country over his personal views before agreeing to lead the side again until the end of the ICC Test Championship cycle, following his fallout with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in July this year.

“No, I wasn’t the captain for a few days in the middle [of my captaincy tenure]. I enjoyed that time; it was a good time,” Shanto said during the pre-match press conference ahead of the Sylhet Test against Ireland.

“The reason [for stepping down before] I have said before. But I felt that the Cricket Board communicated with me in a very nice way. Then, there were good and healthy conversations with everyone. At one point, I felt that Bangladesh cricket is much bigger than me, as an individual. And the needs of the Bangladesh team are a greater concern than my own thoughts,” he said.

Shanto was sacked unceremoniously from the ODI captaincy in June, with the 50-over responsibilities handed to Mehidy Hasan Miraz as part of the BCB’s attempt to implement a “three-format, three-captain” formula.

At that time, Shanto was not on board with the philosophy. The left-hander subsequently stepped down from the Test role right after the Colombo Test in Sri Lanka.

Fast forward four months—ahead of Ireland’s tour of Bangladesh—the BCB reappointed Najmul as Test captain after lengthy discussions with Vice-President Faruque Ahmed. Earlier, Shanto had a conversation with BCB’s Cricket Operations Chairman Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who failed to convince him to take up the captaincy again.

“When such senior officials and former cricketers of the Bangladesh Cricket Board are giving advice, it is definitely for the good of the team and for my own good as well. So, I completely respected that conversation. And if I say it in a word, I felt that I should prioritise the Bangladesh cricket team over myself as an individual. So, I put the team first and came back to this decision,” he said.

“I didn’t actually say much about any ‘problems.’ But as I said, there was a nice, healthy conversation with the board. We discussed how we can collectively handle the problems that might arise—or are already happening—and how to prevent those problems from happening at all. We were all positive from our respective places on these issues. I hope that the team will move forward in a very positive way in the future, and I believe that the Cricket Board will fully support me in that regard,” he added.

Shanto also explained why he moved on from opposing the “three-format, three-captain” system and agreed to lead the Test side while Miraz remains in charge of the ODIs and Litton Das captains the T20I team.

“Yes, I did feel that way [about the three-captain system] at one point, and there were sufficient reasons behind it. But, as I just said, there was a very healthy conversation with the Cricket Board—a good conversation about what problems could arise, how to resolve them, and how to prevent them from happening in the first place. We are very clear on those issues,” he said.

“And I am absolutely optimistic that no such problems will occur. As I said, I had good communication with the Cricket Board. If these issues come up, they will be there to help and try to solve the problems. More importantly, the understanding among the other two captains is very good. We sat together and communicated about how to take our team forward in the three formats and what areas we need to improve in. This communication has taken place among the three of us,” he added.

“All three of us are optimistic that we can take the team forward in the way the team needs. So, there is no communication gap here. And the reason I am convinced is that the Cricket Board will provide me with the support I had in mind—regarding concerns that problems could arise or that the three-format system was not logical, as I had said before. But, as I said, when such senior or former cricketers of the Cricket Board—who are now in positions of responsibility—give a suggestion, they definitely mean well. So, trusting that, I have returned, and I feel that something good will happen in the future,” he concluded.

BP/TD