Bangladesh has faced a huge defeat on their home town in the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Shakib Al Hasan who led the team takes the whole blame of the team’s poor performance in the Test. The skipper has come down hard on the whole batting unit and particularly critical on his own performance.
On the final day of the match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, the rain has made many hurdles in the play, where the first two sessions were mostly washed out, the hosts failed to survive 18.3 overs in the final session, losing their last four wickets for the addition of just 30 runs.
“We probably got zero [out of hundred]. The Afghans earned a letter mark, and we could not put them under any pressure. It is very difficult to accept [this defeat], so it is very disappointing,” – Shakib told.
“The whole blame goes on my shoulders. I was very nervous when I came out to bat and got out the first ball and it was my fault. I should have taken more responsibility and could have avoided the cut shot. We had to play for only one hour and 10 minutes, and I got out the first ball. So, it became harder for the team. The dressing room would have felt more comfortable if I had stayed out,” – Shakib added.
Shakib was critical of Mehidy Hasan opting for the review despite appearing to have been trapped clearly by Rashid Khan. Hasan’s one wrong move left Bangladesh out of reviews. Subsequently, Taijul Islam in the 56th over of the innings was wrongly declared as LBW by Paul Wilson and they didn’t have a chance to challenge as well.
“Taijul’s dismissal [LBW] was bat-pad, but Miraz had taken the review. I think a player who has played cricket even for one day would understand that it was out. If he hadn’t taken that review, Taijul could have used it,” – Shakib said.
Sakib further pointed out of Soumya Sarkar who took single off the second ball of the 61st over, which resulted in Zahir getting the opportunity to bowl at the number 11 batsman, Nayeem Hasan.
“Soumya put his hand on his head after taking that run. It means he doesn’t understand what he needs to do, what is his role. These things have to be learned with experience. And how many days it will take to learn… not easy to say,” – he added.
Shakib also mentioned that they need a huge set of players to go around all formats of the game and give out their best.
“If we want to play consistently well, then we have to improve the quality of our players, and we need more quality players. We have to improve in all formats. We have to improve in T20Is. In Test matches, we have won against big teams, but in T20Is we cannot get near big teams.” – Sakib said.
“We should understand first that who is more suitable for which format and have to stick with that. We don’t have too many options to choose from. If you see our Premier League, there are only 10-11 matches and we have chosen players from there. We have to pick T20 players from one T20 tournament – i.e BPL. And the other is NCL. So, we have to pick three types of players from these three options. I don’t think we have enough options,” – he said.
Shakib went out expressing his unwillingness to lead the team in the Test and T20 formats and moreover wanted to continue as a skipper as has feels the team isn’t in the best of shapes.
“I am not even mentally prepared to lead in Tests and T20s. But the team is not in a good shape, so I understand that I have to lead to get it back on track. Otherwise, I am not really interested in leading in any format. I can focus on myself if I am not captaining, which would help the team,” said Shakib, adding that captaincy was thrust upon him and Mushfiqur Rahim at a young age and now it’s time for the other players in the team to take over the role.” – Sakib further added.
“I want to see the younger lot to take responsibility. We got captaincy at a very young age, but they have now turned 26-27. Unless you give them responsibility, you won’t know what they can do. The World Test Championship and T20 World Cup are up ahead, so we should plan for the next four years.” – Sakib told.
