National cricket all-rounder Shakib al Hasan yesterday sounded repentant over his spat with head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and admitted that he reacted angrily initially but later realised his mistake and apologised to the coach.
“We often have argument with our parents where we get angry and say that I won’t stay at home, even don’t eat for a couple of days. The same thing happened with me. I had an argument with him (Hathurusingha) and I was angry at that time but later I apologised to him,” said Shakib after his return from London.
There have been much furore across the country in the last few days over Shakib al Hasan not taking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the Caribbean Premier League(CPL) combined with his alleged threat to quit the national team after he had an argument with Hathurusingha regarding him joining the national camp before the end of the CPL.
But after his arrival from London yesterday, Shakib was full of clarifications which also demonstrates a sign of the player’s obliging nature towards Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), contrary to the reports in the media after the news of his alleged threat broke out.
BCB asked the all-rounder to join the national team’s training camp immediately after he flew out to London.
However, the 27-year-old denied that he left Dhaka to play in the CPL without taking the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the BCB and said that he was given the verbal permission to play in the CPL.
“I had the NOC of the match which was played in England on Saturday and I thought I also have the NOC of the CPL with that. I went to the board for an NOC for the Big Bash and Sabbir bhai (BCB Cricket Operations manager) told me that I didn’t even have the NOC for the CPL. As my flight was on July 2, I asked him what should I do now and he advised me to talk with Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the CEO. I talked with the CEO and he told me to talk with Akram bhai.
“As Akram bhai was not in the city, he couldn’t sign but he told me to leave for CPL, and assured me that he would talk to Sabbir bhai and sign the NOC. So I was relaxed after that and boarded the flight. But yes, it would have been much better if I had taken the NOC officially, but I never thought it would go this far,” Shakib continued.
However, Shakib hoped things would be normal after talking with the BCB president Nazmul Hasan, and added that he would play in the CPL if he gets the NOC or else he will stay and practice with the team here.
BCB boss Nazmul had earlier said the board informed Shakib to not leave at all and Shakib also confirmed of receiving such an order through an e-mail, but the all-rounder also said he received the e-mail moments before boarding the plane.
“There were only three flights from Bangladesh. So I was worried as to what to do and I gave Sujon bhai (Nizamuddin Chowdhury), the CEO a call which he couldn’t receive. I gave a call to Akram bhai as well but I did not ring Papon bhai (Nazmul Hasan) as it was early in the morning, but I rang him later,” said Shakib.
The poster boy of Bangladesh cricket also shed light on his argument with the head coach Hathurusingha and opined these things can happen in a family. However, he admitted that he should have informed the coach. “Yes, I had an argument with him but these things can happen in a family as we all think of the national team as our family. But yes, I should have spoken with him before leaving,” said Shakib.
According to Shakib, the fact the coach asked him to join the camp within July 31, was a confirmation of him playing in the CPL. But he got to know that things have gone worse only after reaching London. So he returned home immediately after he was asked to join the national camp.
The ace all-rounder informed he apologised to the coach after the 10 hour flight, but it was too late as Hathurusingha had already e-mailed the complaint to the board. Shakib went on to add that he told Hathurusingha about his difficulty to return only for 10 days as the new coach replied back citing the logic of team game and the benefits of togetherness.
