Sports Desk: ‘I will be the thread that illuminates you; I will burn myself. I will be the boat that crosses you and drowns itself.’ Shakib Al Hasan can now sing this song by Tahsan. This Tiger all-rounder did not get a place in the newly announced Champions Trophy team. However, Bangladesh is playing in the Champions Trophy for Shakib! Shakib, who took the Tigers to the Champions Trophy, will not be able to play!
The match against Sri Lanka in the 2023 World Cup to play in the Champions Trophy was a life-or-death fight for Bangladesh. What did Shakib not do to win that match? Along with his batting and bowling, the world saw an incident like ‘timed out’ for the first time due to his surprise. Which started discussions and criticism in the cricket world. However, Shakib did not pay attention to anything. His only goal was to take Bangladesh to the Champions Trophy. In a word, this former Bangladesh captain gave his all to take the team to the Champions Trophy.
In that match, Shakib took 2 wickets for 57 runs in 10 overs with the ball. Not only that, Shakib created discussion and criticism by ‘timing out’ Angelo Mathews in this match. After coming out to bat in that match, Mathews’ helmet strap was torn. He was late in changing his helmet. Captain Shakib appealed to the umpire for not taking strike within the stipulated time. Responding to the Bangladesh captain’s appeal, the umpire gave Mathews out.
Sri Lanka gave Bangladesh a target of 280 runs. Not only did they have to win, but they also had to match the net run rate. Coming out to bat, Shakib played an explosive innings of 82 runs in 65 balls. In this, Bangladesh won by 3 wickets in 41 overs and 1 ball. Bangladesh qualified for the Champions Trophy with that victory.
Even though the match was over, Shakib was criticized for the ‘timed out’ incident. However, in an interview later, the world’s best all-rounder said that he did what was needed to take Bangladesh to the Champions Trophy. Bangladesh qualified for the Champions Trophy with Shakib’s brave decision.
However, times are not going well for Shakib Al Hasan at the moment. After the change of political situation, he could not return to the country. Recently, this experienced cricketer was banned from bowling for illegal actions. Due to which, the chief selector, Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, did not consider Shakib in the Champions Trophy team only as a batter.
Regarding Shakib’s exclusion, the chief selector said, ‘Shakib is in the process of overcoming the problem with the validity of his bowling action. Since the bowling test result was negative, he can now only play as a batsman. As a result, Shakib’s position in the selection position was only as a batsman. While arranging our team combination, we could not keep him in the 15-man team as a batsman only.’
Shakib has to be said to be quite upset. He has taken the team to the Champions Trophy, and now he is not able to play himself. The former captain had also expressed his intention to retire from ODIs after playing this tournament.
