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A tale of two captains

Sakeb Tahsin Subhan
zYfter a successful year the Bangladesh cricket team looks like a settled one. With India and Sri Lanka visiting in January for a tri-series, followed by a Test series against India, the BCB have one crucial question to answer. Who will be captain of the national team, Mashrafe Mortaza or Shakib z\l Hasan?
Mashrafe was made captain of the team before the tour of West Indies in June this year. Unfortunately, he was struck down by a knee I injury halfway through the first Test and thereafter the reins were passed to the vice-captain Shakib. who has led in Mashrafe's absence ever since.
Having presided over Bangladesh's most successful period (llwins out of 13 in GDIs, and victories in both the Tests), Shakib has made a strong case for full-time captaincy duties. This claim will have to be tempered by the reminder that all those victories came against weaker opposition. West Indies were in disarray when Bangladesh toured, with all of their first-choice players boycotting the series because of contract disputes with WICB, and I Zimbabwe are a team still struggling to find their way back into the Test fold. It may justifiably be argued that the results against these teams would not have been much different had Mashrafe been leading.
Against this argument will have to be pitted Shakib's display as a captain. He has proved to be one of the more proactive captains Bangladesh
has had, not waiting for opponents to make mistakes, but trying to induce them through clever field settings and bowling changes.
Another argument against Shakib is that at 22, and only three years into his career, he is too young and would be better off concentrating on his own performances which have been an asset to the team. Till date, he has shown that the burden of captaincy hasn’t weighed him down, but rather has been an incentive to improve. This is borne out in the statistics; his averages are markedly better in both batting and bowling as captain than as just a player.
Even though the statistics favour Shakib, this argument is justified considering that the coming year will pose challenges much stiffer than any he has faced in the matches he has captained. It is realistic to expect that these pressures will be dealt with better by Mashrafe Mortaza, who at 26 is now into his eighth year of international cricket, and much more experienced.
Not that experience is the only quality that is in favour of Mashrafe. Having been appointed captain in the first place, it is only natural that he must have had attributes that the board thought would be suitable for the position. It is unfortunate that he was not able to showcase these because of injury. Regardless, he is a player known for giving a hundred percent every time he is on the field and has become a symbol of fighting spirit, something that has no doubt earned universal respect from the team as well as fans.
What counts against Mashrafe is not any external factor, but his own body. Notoriously injury prone, he has missed 64 GDIs and 18 Tests since his debut through one form of injury or other. He has missed most of the matches this year, depriving him of the chance to get a firm grip on the captaincy. Any decision on Mashrafe's future as captain will have to be made considering his fitness and his availability. Continuation is an important ingredient in a team's success, and that may well harm his chances.
Both players are equally deserving of the position. Shakib has put his name in the hat through the successes that Bangladesh has enjoyed in the past year, as well as his own individual performances. Mashrafe has impressed all and sundry throughout his career as a committed player who commands the respect of his team. The momentum is with Shakib having led the team well in successes, but it is Mashrafe's team that he led in the fast bowler's absence.
It is a healthy situation to have two equally deserving captains, whereas in the past Bangladesh were hard pressed to find one. The selectors will have to tread carefully when making the decision, as the next year could weD tell us where exactly Bangladesh stands in international cricket, and the captaincy will play no small part in that.