Joty has come under scrutiny amid a number of allegations, with criticism surrounding her leadership intensifying after Bangladesh failed to produce the desired results in recent major tournaments.
Her decision to relinquish the T20I captaincy ahead of the Asian Games has left the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) surprised and disappointed, according to Rafiqul Islam Babu, chairman of the board’s women’s cricket department.
Joty informed the BCB of her decision via email from Japan. Rafiqul said he was surprised that she made the decision without discussing it with the board.
“I found out after yesterday evening through a journalist. She did not discuss it with me either. There had been various issues and criticism surrounding her, and I had spoken to Joty about those matters. I told her there was no reason to pay attention to them. You are playing in a major tournament, and you have another big tournament like the Asian Games ahead of you, where you will be playing for a medal. I told her to focus on that and not listen to these things,” Rafiqul told the media.
“Even after that, I cannot understand why she suddenly made this decision. I feel embarrassed and disappointed by the decision coming just before such a major tournament. If there had been a problem, she could have told me after returning from the tournament that she wanted to step down because of it. Then we could have discussed it and made a decision. That would have been much better.”
Despite stepping down from the T20I captaincy, Joty intends to continue leading Bangladesh in ODIs. According to Rafiqul, she wants to focus more on her batting and wicketkeeping in the shortest format.
“We will sit down at the board. Tamim and I will discuss it and take a decision. After the Asian Games, we will decide how to proceed. Since she does not feel comfortable, she has said that she wants to focus more on her batting and wicketkeeping. She sent an email saying that she wants to remain in 50-over cricket but wants to step down from T20Is. We will finalise the matter after she returns,” Rafiqul said.
