@LBW:
1. We can't forget that ultimately, it is the responsibility of EACH international-level player to train regularly, hone his skills and maintain his fitness. With or without a coach or captain. If ther eis a coach, when it comes to practice, the hierarchy changes, with the coach taking on a more leading role and ALL players having to obey. In this regard, if Shakib misses practice and is lazy, then I agree, he should be penalized. But we have to also enquire whether the rest of the players practice sufficiently on their own and if they do, why do they still perform less consistently than Shakib? (Even in this disastrous Zim series, where Shakib was apparently out of touch, Shakib scored 3 fifties!)
2. If the BCB does not do something considerable to improve our domestic cricket, conduct whatever overhauls are necessary within their own administration, etc etc then Shakib will have been proved to be very right in what he said about scapegoating.
3. Personally, while I think Shakib should have been disciplined, I too think that there is no alternative to his captaincy at the moment. Mashrafe is injured and while he is very popular, we can't be sure about his cricketing acumen because he has spent little time as captain. Mushy is vocal, a great encourager, has experience as captain and is apparently quite intelligent BUT he has to be consistent for a couple of more series with the bat and possibly give up the gloves to even continue in the team! (great at stumping but still misses quite a few catches every series)
Many people have used the cliche, "lead by example" but I will use another one: "actions speak louder than words". Others may be able to lead with the example of their humility, their fastidiousness in the nets or their benevolent nature but none of the current bunch, barring Shakib, can lead with the bat or ball on a relatively regular basis. (Even in this disastrous year, he's managed 5 half-centuries so far- 1 Test and 4 ODI) As we clearly don't have a player at the moment who demonstrates all of these qualities, which do we choose?
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