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Shakib raises many valid points during the press conference.

We can't expect more from this team: Shakib
Bishwajit Roy
It is shocking for any captain to suffer a nine-run defeat to the bottom-ranked side Zimbabwe, especially after it comes on the foot of a magnificent series whitewash over New Zealand. Such a scenario begets the obvious question that was on everyone's lips; what really went wrong at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday?

There was definitely a number of on-the-field reasons for the home team making such a poor start to the five-match series but this defeat also exposed a number of the off-field flaws, as exhibited by Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan's thinly-veiled expression of anger over his role as a captain during the post-match briefing.

Taking the words of Shakib at face value one would get the impression that somehow the 'spirit' of the team has been dented due to some bad decisions from the concerned authority.

The poor fielding effort in the first game added more woe to the continuous headache that exists with the middle order, which only suffered more with the inclusion of the hapless Mohammad Ashraful. The lower order batting also remains a cause for concern for coach Jamie Siddons ahead of next year's World Cup.

But putting aside the on-field issues, the captain's discourse was an even greater cause for concern.

"I was not prepared to take the job (captaincy)," said Shakib at the post-match briefing. "And I am also not satisfied with my role as a captain. The reasons are numerous, and I cannot detail all of them right at the moment," he continued.

Based on what little can be deciphered from the statement, reality seems to be that the authority and the team think-tank have thrust the captaincy on a man who is clearly unhappy with how much freedom the role offers him.

It goes without saying how pivotal the role of a captain is in cricket, with most leaders now responsible not just for on-field decisions but also in picking and choosing the side in the first place.

But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has seemingly been short-sighted about its importance, based on its delay and indecision over choosing a leader. Shakib, it seems, was chosen after much deliberation and surprisingly for one series only, even as the World Cup knocks ever louder on the door and long-term planning becomes a must.

Many will say that the outburst from the young man came about because of the poor performance, but Shakib pointed that it was not 'his team' as he was had played no part in team selection, is food for thought.

The star man is seemingly peeved that BCB was treating him as a 'caretaker' for the actual captaincy job and he was not satisfied with the freedom and power that the role gave him.

Shakib further remarked that he was not happy to lead a team, which excluded performers like Shahriar Nafees but retained out-of-form players like Junaed Siddiqui and Mohammad Ashraful.

"The captain should have a clearly defined role, but anyway I don't want to talk about the team. What I can say is that I gave my hundred per cent as a captain in the field," said Shakib adding that he was not interested to disclose what team he would have picked if given the opportunity.

"Fieldingwise we could not expect more from this team because we had two good fielders in Rokibul Hasan and Naeem Islam out of the team. Those who were in the team are not capable. Actually we can't expect more from this team as they did what they are capable of," he added.

The young Bangladesh skipper however spoke to the point when singling out the reasons behind the defeat.

"Ordinary batting was the main reason. The simple thing is we didn't bat well though the wicket was really good for batting in the second innings. In the end, one can lose the match but the fact was that we played poor cricket today. We must do the basic things correctly," opined Shakib.

"We didn't bat well against New Zealand too and it's really worrying that we have batted badly five matches in a row. We will lose more matches if we play like this," he warned.

I am very sympathetic to Shakib's comment. There is too much politics with team selection and captaincy selection, the effect on the team morale is obvious.