Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan said he is finding it difficult to come to terms with the passing away of former teammate Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain Rubel, who breathed his last Tuesday afternoon, losing his three-year battle with brain cancer.
He was 40.
Besides playing together for the national side, Shakib and Mosharraf were also teammates at Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 side Dhaka Gladiators.
Shakib received the news of Mosharraf's death while the former Bangladesh captain was en route to Bangladesh from the USA.
"It is really very sad. I was in the USA, I saw in the news that he was taken home, I felt a bit better then. I thought he somehow survived the whole ordeal. I was talking with someone about this, that he (Mosharraf) may have survived because of his young age. But suddenly...I got the news when I was in the plane. It is very sad. But it once again goes to show that there are no guarantees in life," said Shakib to the media upon his arrival in Dhaka Wednesday morning.
Mosharraf, a left-arm spinner like Shakib, bagged over 550 wickets across all formats in a career spanning two decades.
The tall spinner played five ODIs for Bangladesh between 2008 and 2016 with 3/24 against Afghanistan in 2016 being his best return.
Mosharraf was a consistent performer in the domestic leagues and one of his crowning moments came in the 2013 BPL final where he was adjudged man of the match.
