Bangladesh Test skipper Mominul Haque announced on Tuesday that he was giving up his captaincy in order to concentrate on his batting. Haque revealed this after a meeting with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials at President Nazmul Hassan’s home.

Haque faced strong criticism after Bangladesh lost the Test series against Sri Lanka earlier this month, with calls for his resignation coming in. Haque said that Nazmul Hassan requested him to carry on as the skipper of the team during the meeting, but he expressed his desire not to take up the responsibility any more.

"When you play well, even if the team doesn't win, you are still in a position to motivate them. I felt that captaining a side is tough when I am not scoring and the team is not winning. I think it is best to quit the captaincy. I feel I should focus on my batting. It wasn't a hard decision. A captain has to contribute otherwise it brings a lot of pressure. The board president told me to stay on but I don't want to be the captain," Mominul told reporters.

Haque was made the Bangladesh captain in the longest format of the game in October 2019 and Bangladesh won just three matches under Mominul leadership. His leadership saw the historic moment of Bangladesh beating New Zealand in a Tests for the first time in New Zealand.

But then they lost four of their next five Tests, falling to series defeats against both South Africa and Sri Lanka. As a Test captain, Mominul has compiled 912 runs in 17 games at a modest average of just over 31.

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Mominul's mentor and coach, Nazmul Abedin Fahim told AFP that the burden of captaincy had affected his batting. "So, I think he should get rid of this load to return to form as a batsman," he said.

With 3,525 runs in 53 Tests and 11 centuries to his name, Mominul Haque tops the list of the most number of centuries by Bangladeshi batters.

The left-handed middle-order batter was appointed as the captain for the series against West Indies, but reports point toward Shakib Al Hasan’s reappointment as the Test captain.

Mominul took over the leadership baton from Shakib after he was banned by the International Cricket Council for not reporting corrupt approaches. 

A board official said that they were open to looking for a replacement for the series if Mominul wished to let go of the role of captain.

Cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told AFP, "Mominul was given the captaincy at a crisis moment. We have to give him some respect. If he decides to quit, we will look for a replacement."

(AFP inputs)