Siddons is confident in Shakib's ability to lead.

Jamie Siddons congratulated Shakib Al Hasan on his captaincy and expressed confidence in Mominul Haque's ability to perform without the pressure of leadership. © AFP

"Well, if he's going to captain, he'll have to play. It's difficult to captain if he isn't present."

 

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons was blunt in his explanation of Shakib Al Hasan's future role in the Test team. Over the last six years, the seasoned all-rounder, who was recently upgraded to leadership, has missed 20 of Bangladesh's 39 Tests. Neelkanth online cricket id

"I think he's delighted about the idea of being captain again, and I think we'll see a really nice leadership side of Shakib that we haven't seen in a while," Siddons said at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Saturday (June 4).

Siddons feels Mominul Haque, who stepped down as Test captain after a string of poor performances, will be able to reclaim his form without the pressure of leading the team.

 

"I believe there are two advantages. Shakib is an excellent captain and a great game thinker. He's also a dependable performer. As captain, he'll perform a fantastic job. He will be a fantastic leader because everyone will follow him "Siddons stated.

"Another positive aspect is that Mominul can now concentrate entirely on his batting. He had been struggling recently, but now he can concentrate entirely on his batting. He must perform for us. We know he's a capable player, and we need to reclaim his services. It'll be good to see him without the burden of captaincy on his shoulders, and he'll be able to play cricket more freely now."

 

Siddons remarked that neutralizing the new-ball danger would be his team's toughest challenge in the next series in the West Indies, where the West Indian pacers had had considerable success bowling with the Dukes ball in recent years.

"The new ball is a common threat. We need to improve our new ball batting skills. We need to come to a halt at 5-20, 4-20 because you can't really recover from something like that. That has most likely been our issue for a long time. We must make certain that this is addressed. With the new ball, there is always pressure, and it is difficult for every side "he stated

 

"There's no denying that we have good players, but we also make some foolish mistakes. We need to stop making those errors and make them work hard for every wicket."

 

The coach also dismissed ideas that Tamim Iqbal would be a good fit at No. 4, claiming that the seasoned opener could only be replaced if a suitable replacement could be found.

 

Tamim has only batted at No. 5 once in 425 games across all formats, and that was during Bangladesh's 2017 tour of South Africa, when the southpaw was unable to field for a significant portion of his team's innings, forcing him to bat at No. 5.

"In most countries, older players who have opened for a long time are given the opportunity to bat down the order. Tamim would be thrilled, but we need to find a new starting pitcher first. We can't just push someone who isn't performing well in domestic cricket or hasn't played for the Tigers or our A-team. So, if we let Tamim go down to four batters, we'll have to find an opening batter. He'll be a wonderful actor, in my opinion."