Captaincy or batting, what is better for Mominul?

Much has been talked about Mominul Haque's recent batting performance, and his captaincy as well. Just like his batting, his captaincy has been called into question.  

The chairman of the cricket operations department of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Jalal Yunus, thinks Mominul himself has to decide whether he would concentrate on his batting or his captaincy.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon had an emergency meeting with the cricketers and coaching staff soon after the Mirpur Test a few days back. Later he revealed that he had a short discussion with Mominul too, but he will have a long detailed discussion with the Tigers' Test skipper on his future. 

But that hasn't happened yet. Papon hasn't returned home from India after watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) final. It is understood that he will have a discussion with Mominul and the team management then. 

Although, the BCB president mentioned that the board does not have any plans to change the Test captaincy before the upcoming West Indies tour. Rather Papon is more worried about Mominul's batting dip in recent times. 

Mominul not getting runs is putting extra pressure on his captaincy, Jalal Yunus believes. 

"The board president made it clear a few days ago. He is currently away from the country, we will have a meeting as soon as he returns. I guess Mominul has been unable to inspire others since he is not getting runs as well. It may affect his batting as well," said Jalal.

The board wants to let Mominul decide what he thinks is best for him. 

"I think we should let him decide which will be better for him. The president will talk to him about it," Jalal added.

Mominul scored 11 runs in total in the three innings he batted against Sri Lanka. He had a poor run of form in the South Africa Tests as well. He only accumulated 13 runs from the four innings against the Proteas. 

Once called the 'Bradman of Bangladesh', Mominul averages only 12.14 in the last 15 innings that he batted, 88 being the highest score among them. Only twice he reached the double-figure mark in the meantime. 

Desperately wanting to get in touch, Mominul had a one and a half-hour session with Nazmul Abedin Fahim at Mirpur on Monday.

Fahim worked with Mominul's basic as he thinks the latter has somehow moved a bit away from his basic in the recent past. 

"He has been going through a bad patch for a while now. It is usual to move away from the basics while trying hard to get in touch. That's why I worked with his basics today," Fahim said. 

"He looks a bit better (after working with a few basics). Maybe one or two more days, and he will be good to go. I hope he does well in the coming series," Fahim added. 

Why has Mominul lost his touch? The statistics speak for themselves. He scored  912 runs from 17 Tests with three centuries and two half-centuries as a captain. He bagged those three centuries in his first seven matches as the skipper, but he hasn't reached the three-figure mark since then. While his pre-captaincy batting average was 41.47, his average from the 17 Tests that he captained has dropped to 31.44.