BPL not the place to launch a player, says Shakib-al-Hasan

In order to develop leg-spinners and knowing that leg-spinners rule the T20 leagues around the world, BCB took a decision that every team will field atleast one leg-spinner in the playing eleven and the leg-spinner will have to complete his quota of four overs every time. This rule will come into effect from the next edition of the BPL. Shakib-al-Hasan is unhappy with this obligation and according to him, this will not make sense as BPL is not a stage to discover new talent. He believes domestic cricket is the right place to follow such obligations.

"I think that legspinners should bowl a lot of overs in first-class cricket to gain confidence and consistency," Shakib told the Bengali daily Samakal.

"The BPL is an international-standard competitive tournament where you will face scenarios that you are likely to face in international cricket. You share the dressing room with overseas cricketers. It is not the place to make a player," he added.

Shakib was astonished when he first heard about the decision because he felt Bangladesh were doing absolutely fine in the international circuit for so many years without a leg spinner. But he also wants to believe that the BCB has taken this decision for improving Bangladesh Cricket.

"For so many years we couldn't select a legspinner for the senior team, but suddenly we made plans to include seven legspinners in the BPL. This decision does come as a bit of a surprise, but I would still state that the board has taken a decision that it thinks is good," said Shakib.

Shakib also claimed that the salaries that first-class cricketers earn is not enough to have a proper standard of living in Bangladesh.

"It is a very small amount for a cricketer to maintain the minimum standard of living in Bangladesh. Things are getting costlier. Government officers get increments every year, but we see that it is same for us every time. It even gets reduced. BPL and DPL are big examples of this," he said.

Shakib also complained about the poor training facilities, especially in the indoor training nets in Mirpur, which causes a lot of difficulty to the batsmen.

You cannot bat for more than 15 minutes in the Mirpur indoor facilities, because it gets so hot. They haven't installed ACs even after being told for ten years," he said.

He believes thatb cricketers in bangladesh are being treated like slaves. He feels they do not earn as much as they deserve to. In a country where cricket is such a big sport and cricketers give happiness to the crowds, they deserve respect and better treatment.

"I always get a feeling that cricketers in our country are being suppressed. This is not right. Everyone should have equal opportunity. A player should be left to earn what he feels he deserves," he said.