“Ji na (No),” Najmul Hossain Shanto flat-batted the question on Shakib Al Hasan. There was no chance of a carry-over of the question. The Bangladesh captain was authoritative, as he addressed the media ahead of his team’s Champions Trophy opener against India on Thursday.
Shakib, unarguably Bangladesh’s finest-ever cricketer, wasn’t picked for the Champions Trophy. The cricketing logic behind it has enough solidity. The all-rounder is suspended from bowling in top-flight cricket due to an illegal action. He failed a second assessment too.
That said, Shakib has 7,570 runs from 247 ODIs. He is good enough to play solely as a batsman. Yes, he is only a few days away from turning 38. But this Bangladesh team has Mushfiqur Rahim also, and Mahmudullah. The latter is even older than Shakib.
This creates scope for interpretation. Last year, he was among the people named in a murder investigation for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising. Last month, a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against him over two alleged bounced cheques.
During Bangladesh’s tour of India in September-October last year, Shakib had expressed his wish to call time on his Test career after playing a game against South Africa in Mirpur. The left-hand batter, who now lives in the United States, urged protection from the Bangladesh government. As it turned out, Shakib didn’t play the home series against South Africa. Also, he wanted the Champions Trophy to be his international swansong.
For the record, about his team’s chances in the Champions Trophy, Shanto said: “We can beat any side.”
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