Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque has stepped down from his post following his side’s 1-0 series defeat at home against Sri Lanka. The now 30-year-old was leading Bangladesh in the longest format since October 2019. (More Cricket News)
Mominul Haque announced his decision during a meeting with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chiefs on Tuesday. Under him, the national side won just three Tests, lost 12 and drew two. The left-handed batsman has scored just 162 runs across six Test matches at an average of 16.20 in 2022. He feels that relinquishing captaincy will help him concentrate on his batting.
"When you play well, even if the team doesn't win, you are still in a position to motivate them. I felt that captaining a side is tough when I am not scoring and team is not winning. I think it is best to quit the captaincy,” Mominul was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
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"I feel I should focus on my batting. It wasn't a hard decision. A captain has to contribute otherwise it brings a lot of pressure. The board president told me to stay on but I don't want to be the captain," he added.
Bangladesh started 2022 on a high as the side clinched a historic win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui. However, they lost four of their next five Tests. They suffered a clean sweep against South Africa in three-match series while a following two-match series against Sri Lanka ended 1-0 in the opponent’s favour.
Though BCB is yet to decided the successor of Mominul, Shakib Al Hasan is among the front-runners to take the vacant post.
