Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan’s sudden departure from the team and visit to Dhaka during the World Cup campaign surprised everyone and raised questions.
Bangladesh team flew from Mumbai to Kolkata Wednesday but surprisingly, Shakib came back to Dhaka and completed two sessions - Wednesday and Thursday - with his mentor and prominent coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium indoor nets.
Shakib later rejoined with the squad Thursday night.
Bangladesh suffered heavy defeats four times in a row, against England, New Zealand, India and South Africa after making a winning start against Afghanistan in their first match of this World Cup.
Though Bangladesh had no practice session Wednesday, Shakib leaving the team in such a manner created a unique example.
Journalists from international media were curious as to why Shakib left the team in such fashion and Indian journalists particularly asked questions regarding his departure in the official press conference on the eve of the Bangladesh v Netherlands game.
They even queried whether the skipper’s sudden going away had affected the team.
Tigers pacer Taskin Ahmed, who attended the press conference on behalf of Bangladesh, answered the question technically and informed that team management granted the leave and they have no problem with it.
“Actually it has not affected (the team) much. He actually went for some improvements (in his game) as he was not batting well as he expected in the last few matches. He went to do some specific practice in order to do well for our team. I think we should appreciate that. He talked with our management, BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) - then he went to Dhaka. And also, we had a rest day that day (Wednesday). And on official practice day, he's here. So, I think we should appreciate it more, we don't have any problem, and we are not affected,” said Taskin at the official press conference at Eden Gardens Friday.
Asked if such permission would be given to any other cricketer, Taskin followed a similar tune to his earlier point.
"Actually he told the team management that he needed to work on his batting. Since it was a rest day and Dhaka is near from Kolkata, that's why he went back and he did it for cricket-related purposes. When the coach and management said it's fine, he went back. He didn't break any rules, he left with permission. He had a four-hour batting session and returned a day after. We teammates appreciated it since he practiced on a rest day. His batting is so important for our team and he is desperate to perform well. We also had dinner after he arrived with the whole team together and we had a really good time," Taskin added.
Meanwhile Shakib, the star all-rounder, faced an unwanted situation during his short trip to Dhaka, as some fans booed him in Mirpur after the practice session.
Former Bangladesh spinner Mohammad Rafique also questioned BCB’s stance about allowing Shakib to take a short leave during the World Cup.
He said he never saw anything like this in the three World Cups he played for Bangladesh.
“I think the whole cricket world is surprised. I have played in three World Cups. Not in my time or in any World Cups before have I seen such an incident, like a player returning to his country in the middle of a World Cup for any kind of reason. How can the board (BCB) even allow it? It’s like a mystery,” said Rafique to a TV channel recently.
BCB is accountable for such confusion and chaos regarding Shakib’s sudden short leave as no official press release or statement was given on this issue.
“And one thing is clear with this incident, that our local coaches can help and make an impact and players also have more belief on local coaches when they require help, compared to foreign coaches. Our team have foreign coaches in every department but still Shakib had to come back to Fahim bhai,” Rafique added.
Shakib suffered an injury during the third game against New Zealand and later missed the India clash.
During that period no clear statement was delivered from BCB as well with regards to the nature of the injury or how much time it could take to heal.
During the Bangladesh-New Zealand encounter, Kiwi captain Kane Williamson also incurred an injury and New Zealand Cricket gave a clear statement after a few hours about his injury and possible time of recovery.
Shakib had a blistering World Cup campaign in 2019, scoring 606 runs and taking 11 wickets, but this time he is struggling with the bat – making one, 40, one and 14 in the four matches he played.
Owing to injury concern, he even missed the two official practice games against Sri Lanka and England, and later the important one against India.
The Tigers skipper is desperate to get back among the runs and whether this controversial move is fruitful or otherwise will be known within the next few matches as they face the Dutch Saturday and Pakistan Tuesday, both at Eden Gardens.
