Shakib Al Hasan lambasts Bangladesh board, accuses them of misinterpreting his letter
Shakib Al Hasan has accused the Bangladesh Cricket Board of misinterpreting his letter regarding permission to play in the IPL. The all-rounder claimed he only wanted to skip the Sri Lanka Test series to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held in India.
Shakib Al Hasan also gave the ongoing tour to New Zealand a miss, taking paternity leave to be with his wife for the birth of their third child.
Following the tour to New Zealand, Bangladesh will square off against Sri Lanka in two Tests scheduled for the third and fourth weeks of April.
However, Shakib Al Hasan will not be part of the Test team as he has decided to represent Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Explaining his decision to Cricfrenzy, the all-rounder said:
"Playing in the IPL will help me to prepare for the T20 World Cup in India. This is why I took the decision. BCB did not read my letter. I didn't mention that I won't play Test matches. Nothing like that mentioned in that letter. I think Akram Bhai [Akram Khan, BCB's operation chief] did not read my letter properly. Akram Bhai has repeatedly said that I didn't want to play Tests, which is not mentioned anywhere in my letter."
Expanding further in this regard, the 33-year-old argued that Bangladesh would not gain much from the Test series versus Sri Lanka as the former are already at the bottom of the ICC World Test Championship table.
"Now that the Test Championship is underway, we are at the bottom. Even if we win the remaining two matches, we will not play in the final. And they have already played 7-8 matches without me. These are opportunities to make players. Young players will get the opportunity. Besides, there is T20I World Cup at the end of the year, which is a big event," the Bangladesh all-rounder added.
Shakib Al Hasan also slammed the BCB for holding a Test series during the IPL, saying no other team would play international cricket at the time of the mega event.
"I don't think they think much about cricket"- Shakib Al Hasan on BCB officials
Shakib Al Hasan also criticized the BCB for the development of young players. He believes many officials aren't doing enough to improve Bangladesh cricket.
"We have a number of people in the cricket board who have played for Bangladesh, but apart from Sujon bhai (Khaled Mahmud), they are not too involved. Sujon bhai and Papon bhai (Nazmul Hassan) must be credited for the 2019 Under-19 World Cup win. But I can't find any more people from the board to give credit. I don't think they think much about cricket." Shakib added
Bangladesh were whitewashed in the two-Test series against a depleted West Indies side at home last month. Meanwhile, they have had a poor start to their New Zealand tour, losing the first ODI by 8 wickets.