Rajshahi Kings choose not to burden Rahim with captaincy

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, who joined Rajshahi Kings this year, will not be burdened with captaincy, the franchise confirmed on Friday (November 3).

Rahim's leadership credentials have drawn a lot of flak lately, after he misread the pitch in both Test matches against South Africa, resulting in humbling defeats. The 29-year-old, however, came back strongly in the ODIs on that tour when he played without the responsibility of leading the team. The Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman scored a century in the opening game of the three-ODI series and seemed to be enjoying his time in general.

Rajshahi Kings managing director Muhammad Sayeed reasoned that they opted to keep their faith on the proven one - Darren Sammy - as they did not want to put any pressure on Rahim.

"You have all witnessed he had a difficult series in South Africa so we opted to allow him play with more freedom as he is expected to be more relaxed with Sammy as our skipper," said Sayeed. "We are sure he will give his inputs from behind the wickets."

Rahim, for his part, affirmed that irrespective of being captain or not, he will try to contribute to help his team reach their desired goal. "Whether I am captain or not, I will try to play my role from the behind. I always try to perform my job 100 percent well," he said.

"My team will very much benefited if I can perform my current jobs - wicket-keeping, batting and vice-captaining. I am ready to face the challenge.

"I think I can learn a lot from Sammy," he concluded.

In their inaugural season last year, Rajshahi Kings had a very impressive campaign under Sammy, making it all the way to the final, before losing out to Dhaka Dynamites.