BAN vs SA | Don’t think that I should be in South Africa with this mental state, says Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan has revealed that he is not in the right mental state to play
|Bangladesh recently played three ODIs and two T20Is against Afghanistan and won the ODI series and Shakib Al Hasan was part of the squad. Shakib has recently revealed that constant cricket is weighing him down and he should not tour South Africa for upcoming series with the current mental state.
Bangladesh recently played three ODIs against Afghanistan and won the series by 2-1. Both the teams played a T20I series later which was drawn at 1-1. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was part of the squad and he performed well taking five wickets in the ODIs. However, in a recent development, he has revealed that constant cricket has weighed him down heavily. Shakib has been included in the squad for the upcoming tour to South Africa but he revealed that he is not in the right mental state to play.Â
"I have spoken with Papon (Nazmul Hasan - BCB president) and agreed to play, and that is why I was in the team. After the Afghanistan series, I have given it a deep thought because it's immaterial whether I am doing well or not because if I cannot enjoy then that is worrying. Then I am also depriving my teammates," Shakib said, reported Cricbuzz.
"As far as I am concerned, the mental and physical condition that I am in right now, it is not possible for me to play international cricket. If I get a break and get back the interest then it will be easy for me to play cricket. In the Afghanistan series, I was feeling like a passenger and I don't want to be like that. I could not enjoy the games in T20Is and ODIs. I tried but it did not happen. I don't think that I should be in South Africa with this mental state."
"I have spoken with Jalal bhai (Jalal Yunus, BCB cricket operation chairman) and he said he will think about it for two days. With this mental state if I am with the team it will be harmful and I will be cheating with my team-mates. If I cannot meet up the expectations of my own self and the fans then that will be very sad."
Since the last tour to South Africa in 2017-2018, he has played only eight matches out of 27 Tests Bangladesh played . He also missed the last South Africa series due to personal reasons. He most recently missed the tour to New Zealand. Shakib revealed that he wants to concentrate on white-ball cricket as two World Cups are approaching in the next two years.Â
"I need a long-term plan as far as my career is concerned. I have seen that I wanted a six-month break from Tests. I did not want to play Test cricket till the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia and wanted to concentrate on white-ball cricket. Because we have two World Cups, I want to concentrate on white-ball cricket. I feel we can go far in these two World Cups,” he stated.
"That does not imply I wanted to quit Test cricket. I felt if I concentrate on white-ball cricket, I will do better with my physical condition. The problem is I don't know what is there for me and it is difficult to plan on a series by series basis. If I can know the whole year plan then it will be better for me. It is difficult to say about the Sri Lanka series because it is tough to say about something that will happen after two months. With a 15 to 20 days break lot of things can change.”
