A father's unspoken dream
During the early days after Bangladesh had received Test status back in 2000, there were a few Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials who were close to young age-level cricketers and guided them during training camps and tours.
Among them was Shohidul Islam, who was then the co-ordinator of the BCB's game development committee and co-ordinated age-level training camps. He shared a friendly relationship with young cricketers and has seen the transformation of players such as Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal from age-level cricketers into icons of Bangladesh cricket.
However, the father of two sons also harboured the dream that one day his sons would also make it into the national side but because he was a BCB official, Shohidul kept his identity in the dark and silently led his elder son on the dream of playing for the national team through his own merits.
Almost two decades later, Shohidul's dream finally came true as his elder son, Shadman Islam Anik, was named in the Tigers' 14-member Test squad for the first of the two-match Test series against the West Indies, starting on November 22.
Many may assume that Shadman had the luxury of taking an easier path due to his father's position, but for Shohidul casting his identity aside and urging his son to earn a place was the hardest thing.
"I have seen Shakib, Tamim, Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah [Riyad] and many more cricketers since their age-level days and I feel proud to see them as the heroes of Bangladesh now. As a father I always wanted my sons to also represent the country," Shohidul, a proud father and now assistant manager of the BCB's game development committee, told The Daily Star yesterday.
"But being a BCB official, I have always kept out of his way and left him to struggle and earn a place like the others."
He went on to add that perhaps Shadman had to work even harder than most owing to his father's position.
"I am not only saying this because Shadman is my son, but as a cricketer he has earned a place everywhere through performances. Whether it was the 406 runs he scored in the Under-19 World Cup in 2014 -- or being the top scorer in the National Cricket League this season to get a maiden call-up to the national team," he said.
Now Shadman is on the doorsteps of his dreams, but if the left-hander does debut against the West Indies, it will also fulfil a long-standing dream for a father, Shohidul.
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