In an interesting twist, Shakib Al Hasan will be travelling to South Africa for Test and ODI series in the country as the Bangladesh allrounder has had a last-minute change of heart around his participation. The Bangladesh Cricket Board confirmed the latest development on Saturday (March 12).
Shakib told the press he has had proper discussions with BCB president Nazmul Hassan over his participation and they have together planned his participation in international cricket for the rest of the year. He stated he is available for all formats, including the coming tour of South Africa.
“I spoke to [BCB president Nazmul Hassan] Papon bhai for the last two days, when we planned the entire year. I am available for all three formats. The board will decide when to give me rest, that includes the South Africa series. I am available for the SA series,”
Shakib told the press in a joint statement with Hassan and other BCB officials, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
This is a dramatic turnaround in the matter where Shakib had earlier said he should not be travelling to South Africa in his current state of physical and mental wellbeing. The allrounder had said he felt like a “passenger” playing the recent limited-overs series at home against Afghanistan because of excessive fatigue.
At that point, it also emerged that Shakib had been eyeing a break from Tests for a period of six months to a year to keep himself fresh for the limited-overs assignment in the build-up to the coming two World Cups. Shakib was also looking to create space in his busy calendar to enable his participation in the IPL 2022.
But once the cricketer went unsold at the tournament auction, BCB president Hassan had said he told Shakib that he expects him to play all formats in South Africa. To which, Shakib nodded. But later said he is feeling fatigued and can’t take part in the entire trip. A final decision, though, was reserved for after meeting Hassan in person upon returning from the UAE.
Hassan, however, said when Shakib was in Dubai, he communicated to the board that he wanted to rest and thus they gave him a break from all cricket till April 30. But the player changed his stance thereafter and subsequently, the BCB also revoked their earlier decision.
“Shakib is available for all the formats for the South Africa tour. He will travel to South Africa tomorrow. If he skips a match in this series, please accept it. He wants to play. That is the most important thing,”
Hassan said.
