Soon-to-be father Shakib al Hasan upon joining the Bangladesh training camp yesterday said that his wife forced him to play in the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe. The world's leading all-rounder flew to the United States with his wife Umme Shishir last month where the couple are expected to have their first child later this month.
There were confusion whether the Tigers would avail the service of their prime cricketer, but Shakib said that he will be playing the series and will return to his wife immediately in case of any emergency.
“My wife's support has been very important for me and she is the one who insisted me to come and play. She also asked me to return early only if there is any emergency. If the delivery of my child takes place on the expected time then I will be able to complete the series and return.”
“It is only because of her that I decided to come, otherwise it would not have mattered to me if I didn't play the series,” said Shakib.
“She said to me, 'if you sit here and watch the game I can't bear the look on your face. It's better you go and play.'”
Shakib further said that one cannot imagine how excited he is about the upcoming series but “If required I may skip one or two games and that depends on the situation.”
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe team arrived in the capital yesterday as Shakib sees its as a good sign. Earlier, the Cricket Australia cancelled their tour in October citing “security threat.”
The champion all-rounder spoke to the media after quite a while where he informed that Zimbabwe has helped Bangladesh by taking part in the series after Australia canceled their tour due to security reasons recently and it's a very positive thing for Bangladesh, said Shakib after the Tigers training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium yesterday.
“It's a positive sign and in a way I think Zimbabwe helped us by coming to our country. It's a big thing that a team arrived to play against us at the moment. I don't think there were any uncertainty over cricket in Bangladesh ever. I am very happy to see Zimbabwe arrive and I believe that there was no problem involving cricket in the past and there won't be any in the future in Bangladesh,” said the 28-year-old.
The southpaw expects his team to continue delivering good results as it has been in the past few months. He said that it's important for them to finish the year on a positive note before adding that, earlier Bangladesh fought to win over Zimbabwe but now they eye domination.