"These players don't want to play under Shakib Al Hasan's captaincy" - Former Pakistan spinner on Bangladesh's Test team
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria recently stated that Shakib Al Hasan has failed to captain his team well in the Test series opener against India. He pointed out that the all-rounder let the match slip by not using his bowlers well.
Kaneria opined that the players also don't seem to be happy with Shakib's leadership. He suggested that the team management should consider handing the captaincy to Litton Das. He made these remarks while speaking on his YouTube channel.
The former leg spinner explained:
"Yes, Ebadat Hossain had to walk off the field due to some niggle. However, Shakib Al Hasan didn't bowl him much even when he returned. He also didn't utilize Khaled Ahmed properly."
"His captaincy was not up to the mark. These players don't want to play under Shakib's captaincy. Litton Das could be a better choice, and we saw how he won the ODI series. There is no doubt Shakib is a big player, but he is not captaincy material."
He further went on to say that Shakib should not have played the first Test, given that he was not going to bowl a lot of overs due to his injury. The 41-year-old reckoned that Bangladesh should have roped in an extra bowler to replace the senior player for the fixture.
Kaneria added:
"The wicket at Chattogram is different from the other Bangladeshi wickets as it offers some assistance for the fast bowlers. Shakib Al Hasan was injured and wasn't expected to bowl much. Was it necessary for him to play? They could have added an extra bowler instead."
Notably, the 35-year-old bowled just 12 overs and finished wicketless during India's first innings. The seasoned campaigner failed to make an impact with the bat as well, losing his wicket to Kuldeep Yadav after making just three runs.
"India have thrashed Bangladesh in their own backyard" - Danish Kaneria on the Shakib Al Hasan-led side's underwhelming performance
Kaneria further stated that India are likely to secure a comfortable victory over the hosts in the opening encounter of the two-match Test series.
He emphasized that Bangladesh struggled despite the home advantage. The former leg spinner predicted that the side will suffer an embarrassing defeat, losing the Test by an innings.
Kaneria elaborated:
"India are inching closer to a Test victory. They are going to beat Bangladesh by an innings. Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj broke the back of Bangladesh's batting order. India have thrashed Bangladesh in their own backyard and in their own conditions."
India have the upper hand in the first Test as Bangladesh were reeling at 133/8 at stumps on Day 2. They are still 271 runs behind India's total of 404 runs.