Shakib Al Hasan : Bangladesh follow cricket more intensely than India

Bangladesh cricket has come a long way in the recent past as they have managed to do away their ‘minnows’ tag by consistently beating higher-ranked opponents. Moreover, they proved that their recent resurgence was no flash in the pan by making it to the semifinals of an ICC tournament for the first time at the Champions Trophy earlier this year. 

Now, speaking on the back of such performances, Shakib Al-Hasan has gone on to claim that Bangladeshis’ love the sport more than Indians. “The way we like cricket over here, I don’t think even in India they follow the game like that. So, cricket comes before everything else in Bangladesh right now,” Shakib said while talking to reporters ahead of the Australia series.

He even went onto claim that this was an achievement for his country. “This achievement is something big for us cricketers,” he said. He further credited not only the players but also the facilities, support staff, the coaches involved, the fans and even the reporters for this progress.

He also suggested that everybody’s involvement has resulted in this transformation for Bangladesh not only for the past 10 or 11 years but even before that.

Speaking of the upcoming series against Australia, the 30-year-old said, “Whatever team Australia brings and in whatever situation -- they are always a difficult opponent. There is no better team in the world than Australia when it comes to being able to adapt to various places. So this is a very challenging series for us."