"They have to be big-hearted players" - Mushtaq Ahmed reckons Shakib Al Hasan will leave a massive void in Bangladesh's T20I side
Former Pakistan cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed feels Shakib Al Hasan retirement from T20Is will leave a massive void in the Bangladesh side in the shortest format of the game. With the Bangla Tigers set to play a T20I series against India, Ahmed feels cricketers lining up to replace Shakib must be big-hearted ones.
Ahead of the second Test against India in Kanpur, Shakib announced his retirement from T20I cricket. The veteran also stated that the Kanpur Test would be his final game in the red-ball cricket if he doesn't get picked for the home series against South Africa.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Mushtaq Ahmed reckoned that Shakib is fearless and hardly hesitates to take his chances. The 54-year-old remembered the veteran's 2019 World Cup campaign, stating how he was at the top of his game at that time.
"They have to be big-hearted players. Shakib's strength was that he was a big player because he got a big heart. He was never worried about the failures. In international cricket, you need to have a big heart. Shakib's another strength was that he used to take chances and international cricket is all about taking chances."
"When the great players are at the top of their game, they don't give a sniff to their opposition. They will win the game when the opposition is down. That was Shakib's strength. Whenever he was in a good rhythm like 2019 World Cup, he was the best player because he was scoring a lot of runs and he was getting wicket," he added.
Shakib's most recent T20I outing proved to be a forgettable one as he perished for a golden duck against Afghanistan in the World Cup game this year. He also went wicketless but conceded only 19 runs in four overs. Overall, he starred in a record 129 T20Is, taking 149 scalps and scoring 2551 runs.
"If you are worried about failure, you cannot be an achiever" - Mushtaq Ahmed
Mushtaq feels Shakib Al Hasan's aggressive mindset is something the youngsters can learn a lot from, adding:
"This is a great message the young people can learn from Shakib, he was always taking the chances, taking the pressure off others. When he is bowling, he is always looking for wickets. His mindset was very aggressive. That kind of attitude you need in international cricket. If you are worried about failure, you cannot be an achiever. If you want to be an achiever, you have to take your chances. If you have the mindset, maybe you will lose one or two games but you can win a tournament."
Bangladesh's three-match T20I series against India will begin on Sunday, October 6, in Gwalior.