Shakib Al Hasan considered himself lucky as he did not have to miss too many matches for Bangladesh during his one-year suspension as cricket around the world stood still for majority of that period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the early hours of Thursday, the all-rounder uploaded a 35-minute video on his personal YouYube channel, ‘Shakib Al Hasan’, where he answered some selected questions from fans and journalists which he received earlier through WhatsApp from his home in the USA.
This was Shakib’s first media interaction after his one-year ban for not disclosing multiple conversations with an Indian bookmaker ended on October 28 and he shed some light on his personal experiences and learning from this period.
The 33-year old was set to miss important tournaments like Asia Cup Twenty20, ICC Twenty20 World Cup and ICC World Test Championship matches against Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka due to the sanction.
But due to the global coronavirus pandemic all of those fixtures got postponed and Shakib was thankful for this lucky break.
‘I always consider myself lucky. Even I think I am also fortunate that I did not have to miss too many matches for Bangladesh because there was hardly any cricket due to the pandemic,’ Shakib said in his question-answer session.
‘If the situation was different, if I saw that I was the only one seated idly while the others were busy playing then I might have felt really sad and miss playing for the country. But as Bangladesh wasn’t playing too much therefore I also did not miss playing that much,’ he added.
Shakib’s second daughter Errum Hossain was also born during this period and he was happy that he got to spend a lot of time with her right after birth, which he couldn’t do with his first born.
‘I became a father for the second time. When my first child was born, I could not give her enough time. But when my second daughter is very lucky and I am also lucky that I could spend a lot of time with her,’ he said.
Nazmul Abedin Fahim and Mohammad Salahuddin, two coaches who guided Shakib’s journey in cricket from his childhood and also conducted a special training session for him in BKSP to prepare him for his return, have told the media that Shakib will be better than ever after his comeback.
Shakib took inspiration from their faith in him and hoped to repay it.
‘If Fahim sir and Salahuddin sir believe that I can do better, I think that belief will also grow inside me that I can do more. I will try to restart from where I left off and then go beyond my past achievements,’ he said.
The nature of Shakib’s suspension could plant some seeds of mistrust in his team-mates minds and the all-rounder thought that anxiety is justified.
‘Doubt, mistrust might come; I admit that. But as I was in touch with everyone during the ban, I did not sense anything like that. Hopefully things will be normal like before. But, some suspension might enter someone’s mind, which is not abnormal. The cause of my suspension is such that anyone can become suspicious, but I think the trust in me will remain the same as before.’
Shakib wanted to return to cricket with the Sri Lanka tour, but now has set his sight on the forthcoming Bangabandhu Twenty20 Cup and hoped to make his comeback to international cricket with the West Indies series in January.
‘The training part in BKSP was very good, I wish I could carry on for a few more days as the Sri Lanka series did not take place eventually so I returned to the USA. But there is a domestic tournament coming up and I think I can prepare myself. Now my focus is on that tournament and making myself available for selection against West Indies or future tours of Bangladesh.’ -new age
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