Everyone follows Shakib, so he will be a great leader: Siddons

Bangladesh batting coach Jamie Siddons is hopeful that newly-appointed Test team captain Shakib Al Hasan will be "a great leader".

The Tigers are set to tour the West Indies this month for two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs and Siddons feels that making Shakib captain will have two positive effects on the team.  

"I think there are two positives. Shakib's a very good captain and a very good thinker of the game. He's also a consistent performer. He'll do a very good job as captain. Everyone follows him, so he'll be a great leader," Siddons told the media on Saturday.

"The other good thing is now Mominul can focus on his batting, he's been struggling a little bit but now he can focus 100% on his batting. We need him performing. We know he is a good player and we need to get that back. It'd be nice to see him without the weight of captaincy on his shoulders and now he can be a little free-er with his cricket." 

Siddons also was asked about former Test captain Mominul Haque's captaincy and how Shakib would be different.

"Shakib's done it before. He has got the trust and the players behind him, not that Mominul didn't but the players seem to follow a lot of what Shakib does a lot more. It'll be fantastic to have him back in charge and Momi (Mominul) can just go out and play his cricket," he explained. 

A big question over making Shakib captain is his availability in Tests as he has been picking and choosing the matches he plays, especially in the longest format of the game. 

Injuries have also been a problem for the ace all-rounder and Siddons felt Shakib "needs to play" Tests if he is the Test captain. 

"Well If he's going to captain, he needs to play. It's pretty hard to captain if he's not there. I think he is excited about the prospect of being captain again and I think we'll see a really good leadership side of Shakib that may have been missing for a little while," he concluded. 

Bangladesh play their first Test against West Indies on 16 June.