Three-captain approach generates mixed reaction

Bangladesh cricket entered a new era with the appointment of Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the new ODI skipper, resulting in three leaders in three different formats which generated mixed reactions from former players.

Bangladesh had last endorsed three different captains back in 2022 when Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah were at the helm for Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively.

The approach didn't bear fruit at that time and Bangladesh soon had to appoint Shakib as skipper for Tests and T20Is while Tamim retained ODI captaincy only until Shakib got it back in a dramatic fashion ahead of the ODI World Cup in India in 2023.

In February last year, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) handed Najmul Hossain Shanto captaincy in all three formats despite Shakib's interest to continue the role in ODI format. By that time, Shakib had already expressed his desire to quit Tests and T20Is.

However, after a few setbacks in the T20Is, Shanto expressed his reluctance in continuing with the duty in the shortest format in order to concentrate more on his batting, and the BCB opted to pick Litton Das as skipper until 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Having different captains in different formats isn't completely new in world cricket as India also opted to have three different captains – Shubman Gill (Tests), Suryakumar Yadav (T20Is) and Rohit Sharma (ODIs). However, India were forced to go with this approach after Rohit recently announced retirement from Tests.

However, other major teams like Australia (Pat Cummins – ODIs, Tests, Mitchell Marsh – T20Is), South Africa (Temba Bavuma – Tests, ODIs, Aiden Markram – T20Is), England (Ben Stokes – Tests, Harry Brook – ODIs, T20Is) and New Zealand (Tom Latham – Tests and Mitchell Santner – ODIs and T20Is) have two skippers, with majority of these teams preferring one skipper for red-ball format and another for white-ball format, something that Bangladesh could also go with, feels former skipper Rajin Saleh.

"I think it would be better if there were two captains in three formats," Rajin told The Daily Star yesterday. "Looking into the kind of situation Bangladesh cricket is going through, there might be an ego problem among the captains."

"Three captains can have three different opinions and will try to form three different types of teams. But if someone leads in both limited overs teams, he can have his own assessment of players," Rajin added.

Meanwhile, Roquibul Hassan, another former skipper, feels that this is the way to go in modern cricket as there are so many international matches nowadays and having different captains can take pressure off of one individual, both physically and mentally.

"We have to play a lot of bilateral series and tournaments in different formats these days. Apart from that, the players also go to franchise leagues," said Roquibul. "People not only get tired physically, they also get tired mentally. Since we are still an underdog in world cricket, the pressure such on technical, mental and physical aspects of the game is immense.

"If the responsibility remains on one man's shoulder, it becomes difficult for him to cope with the situations," opined Roquibul.