[zman]

Shakib had a disastrous tour in Zimbabwe. But let’s look at some facts, what he did as a player in a series where he performed below par—

ODI series
Shakib had the highest average at 54 and the second highest runs scored-- his 216 being only second to Sibanda’s 242
As bowler he took 6 wickets at an average of 29.

Test match
He was by far Bangladesh’s best bowler taking 4 wickets at an average of 30.
As batsman he scored the 2nd highest runs for his team at 37 average.

And all this with an injured index finger?

For a strong or even decent team, it’s not necessary that the captain be the best player in the playing eleven because you generally have balance throughout the line up. The team isn’t dependent on a handful of players to perform every day. Another reason we see captains who aren't one of the best players in the side is to provide youngsters veteran guidance.

Aside from the above cases, for the weaker teams in world cricket, it’s imperative that the captain be one of the best players and at the minimum of world class standard to be able to exert any influence at all. On a team that’s devoid of consistency and overseen by a board like BCB, leading by example (through ones own performance, just like we see at smaller companies/organizations as compared to larger ones) is the best way to lead. How can we expect players to listen to a captain who cannot even cement his own place in the team! (and this is Bangladesh we're talking about) In the context of Bangladesh there’s only two ways one can lead and expect any result — a) Leading by example b) Hiring a bunch of thugs and creating a state of anarchy.

The way BCB dealt with Shakib and Tamim, I’ll be very shocked if the new captain’s on field performance doesn’t get hampered by all the politics he’ll have to deal with, let alone him handling successfully the burden of captaincy. If we’re being nit picky about Shakib’s performance now, just wait till we find out how the next captain performs amidst all this chaos.

In time, if I’m proven wrong, I’ll be the first one to admit and I’ll be as happy as anyone to see our team on the right track, but the way things are going I feel we’ll be fondly reminiscing the memories of WI series win and NZ white wash as the two last significant accomplishments in our cricketing history for a long time to come.