Published on 06:25 PM, July 17, 2022

Changing captaincy won’t bring overnight results: Papon

Mahmudullah Riyad

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon admitted that the issue of Mahmudullah Riyad's T20I captaincy has come up in the media as the captain has been not amongst the runs but opined that changing captaincy at this moment will not bring immediate results.

Bangladesh lost the T20I series 2-0 with the West Indies dominating all three matches, including the first T20I which was washed out by rain.

"We're not certain that bringing a sudden change to the T20I line-up will bring overnight results. We have to think long-term. I think it will at least take a month for us to arrive at a decision," Hassan said during a press conference following the board meeting on Sunday.

Asked if they were planning to take a decision on Riyad's captaincy, Hassan said: "The issue is not like that. Let the team and captain return home first, then we will have a discussion."

Asked if the board was happy with Riyad's captaincy, Hasan was not ready to divulge too much. Former Test captain Mominul Haque had to let go off captaincy after he struggled to score runs during a lean patch. 

"This is a difficult question. The thing is not like that. Actually, we were never dissatisfied with Mominul's [Haque] captaincy either. He wasn't scoring runs and that's why change was made but as a captain we did not find any problems [with Mominul]. Mahmudullah's question has been asked because he has not been scoring runs. So it's an issue, so let's see what he says regarding it," the BCB president said.

"I think when he starts scoring, everything will be alright. Australia [T20 World Cup] is a difficult assignment and difficult for any captain. We don't believe bringing changes to captaincy will bring overnight changes.

"We can't bring overnight changes even inside three months since the team is playing frequently. There is not much break and these are important issues. When they come, we will hold discussions on what can be done for the T20 World Cup."