BCB President raises questions on Shakib’s commitment towards national team

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has expressed his displeasure on Shakib Al Hasan’s reluctance to tour South Africa later in March 2022. He also has questioned Shakib’s commitment to the national side by saying that if Shakib was truly in a poor physical and mental state, he wouldn’t have given his name in the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s mega auction. 

“I think it’s logical to think that if he was in a poor physical and mental state, he wouldn’t have given his name in the IPL”, Hassan said. “But he went ahead with it. So, does it mean that if he got his IPL contract, he would have said the same thing? We can’t do anything if he doesn’t want to play for Bangladesh. But he can’t keep saying I will play this game; I won’t play that game.” 

Earlier, Shakib had expressed his interest to focus more on white-ball cricket in the most part of 2022. But once he was not picked in the IPL mega auction, the board assumed him to be available for the entire tour of South Africa. 

In fact, the ace all-rounder was picked in both the Test and ODI squads. But, on Sunday (6 March), he indicated to the BCB that he could possibly take a break from the ODI series in order to get himself physically and mentally fit for the tests. 

The BCB president has slammed this kind of unprofessionalism by one of their senior cricketers and asked for clarity from all the players regarding their availability for a certain format. 

“I have been clear with everyone that they must inform us beforehand if they don’t want to play a particular format,” Hassan said. “But they shouldn’t do all this. It is not desirable”. 

Shakib had also opted out of the New Zealand tour last month, which was the third time he took a leave from a series for personal reasons. He has frequently taken leaves in the last five years and thus has played only 15 off the total 33 Tests Bangladesh have played since 2017. 

The BCB president seems to be very critical of such an attitude by Shakib and said that he might face serious consequences for such frequent unprofessional behaviour.  

“We are soft on those who we love, but they also have to be professional. Otherwise, we will have to take decisions that no one will take”, Hassan said.