Shakib Al Hasan suffers injury while playing football in practice session; set to miss warm-up matches and opening game in 2023 ODI World Cup
Bangladesh ODI skipper Shakib Al Hasan reportedly sustained an injury to his foot during an evening training session on Thursday. The all-rounder was not seen during the toss and Mehidy Hasan Miraz is currently leading the team in their first warm-up match against Sri Lanka in Guwahati.
According to reports, the injury forces Shakib out of Bangladesh's upcoming second warm-up match against England on October 2 as well as their first league-stage game against Afghanistan on October 7.
Shakib is a vital cog in the Bangladesh setup due to his ability as well as experience. He was among the leading run scorers in the previous edition of the tournament in England and played a key role in the team's narrow win over India in the Super Four stages of the 2023 Asia Cup.
Bangladesh lost the toss against Sri Lanka in the warm-up clash in Guwahati and have been asked to bowl first. The Dasun Shanaka-led side have amassed 103 runs in 14 overs and are on the lookout for their third consecutive win against Bangladesh, having beaten the Bangla Tigers twice in the 2023 Asia Cup.
"I will lead till this World Cup and I won't lead in ODIs after that" - Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan's late injury gives Bangladesh additional problems to what has been a troubling build-up to the tournament. Two of Bangladesh's senior players - Shakib and Tamim Iqbal - have been involved in a war of words, which has led to the latter not being part of the 2023 ODI World Cup squad.
Apart from the decision to ax Tamim from the squad, Shakib also spoke about his future plans in international cricket. Suggesting that he will part ways with each format one at a time and hang up his boots following the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, Shakib told T Sports:
"As far as international career is concerned, what I see at this moment it is up to 2025 Champions Trophy that is the ODI format. The T20 format is up to 2024 World Cup and that's it. As far as Test goes, may be sooner, maybe after the World Cup."
"May be I will retire from three formats at the same time and no one can tell about future but at this moment I have such an idea. As far as reality goes, I will lead till this World Cup and I won't lead in ODIs after that. Let me clear one thing - I resigned as captain on [September ] 17th, and when I did that, I did not know that this kind of situation was coming up," he added.
Shakib had suffered a hamstring injury midway through the 2021 T20 World Cup that ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament.
Bangladesh's second World Cup match will be against England on October 10 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.