Feel there is no chance of me leading the national side, claims Mushfiqur Rahim

11/23/2020

Turning down to lead in the BCB President’s XI, Mushfiqur Rahim has stated that he doesn’t have a chance to lead the national side, and wants young players to take over responsibility. However, he clarified that he took over the captaincy in Bangabandhu T20s because the franchise asked him to.

Bangladesh Cricket Board have managed to bring competitive cricket back to the country with the BCB President's Cup in which three teams will take part. Bangladesh Cricket Board wanted their former skipper to lead a side in the tournament, alongside Mahmudullah Riyad and Tamim Iqbal but in a surprise move, the wicket-keeper batsman declined the role, saying it would not be fair for him given he doesn’t have any chance to lead the national side in the future.

"Mushfiqur is not ready to take up captaincy and he has informed us. So we have decided that the three teams will be Tamim XI, Mahmudullah XI and Nazmul XI. Mushfiqur will be in one team but he will not lead the side,” president Nazmul Hasan had said.

However, after declining, Rahim agreed to lead Beximco Dhaka in the Bangabadhu T20 comptetion which surprised many. A clarification was due and thus Rahim landed a detailed statement why he chose the way he did.

"I feel there is no chance of leading the national side. They (BCB) feel that there are some young players and if they are given a chance (captaincy) in the future it can be beneficial for them. In the national team and in the other teams there are a lot of young players and since I'm not interested in leading the national team, I feel they should be given the chance,” Rahim was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"I think the more they (young players) take responsibility the better and it will help them to be more responsible. In this tournament (Bangabandhu T20) the franchise (corporate house) thinks that I am the best person to guide the team and that is why I have taken up captaincy," he clarified.

Rahim, now 33, led Bangladesh in 34 Tests, 37 ODIs and 23 T20Is between 2011 and 2017.