‘Resting players can also bolster pipeline’

Shakib Al Hasan's performance in the World Cup was the sole aspect of Bangladesh's campaign that was consistently positive. Such was his impact on the tournament that despite the team finishing a lowly eighth, even neutral observers were left asking why he was not awarded the player-of-the-tournament award. It also showed the gap between the rest of the team and the world's best all-rounder.

Although he was not part of the side that abjectly lost the three-ODI series in Sri Lanka on Wednesday, his comments on the team's troubles revealed much about the mindset that Bangladesh cricket need to adopt to elevate itself from their current mid-table status.

The team currently operates in a culture where it almost becomes a state of emergency when one of the senior players get injured. Many players are coaxed by board high-ups to play with injury. Shakib had asked for a break after his World Cup heroics and when asked during an appearance at a dengue awareness event at a school in Banani whether his absence was the reason for the Tigers' 3-0 whitewash, he talked at length about how resting players can be beneficial to the team in the long run.

"It is my opinion, it could be right or wrong, that a player should only play when he is ready," Shakib said. "It becomes difficult when a player is not fit and yet playing. How fit or unfit you are plays a big role, be it mentally or physically, in performance. We have to understand this now because in the modern game there are so many matches that it is very important to manage these things. If you look at other teams, they have started to manage these things with discussions between coaching staff, physios and players because they know that it is not possible for a player to keep playing continuously.

"So, these breaks are important; it will also give other players an opportunity and I think that new players will be created in the pipeline. I think we have to plan these things in detail; I have just said it briefly here, and we will talk more about it when this is discussed."

Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, whose career has been a study in injury management, played most of the World Cup with what he termed on record as a 'Grade 2' hamstring tear and was visibly struggling on the field. There were allegations against young all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin when he missed the World Cup game against Australia through injury to the effect that he did not want to play.

"I think it is the responsibility of both parties; when a player says that he needs a break or the coaching staff tells the player that he should take a break, the other should understand," Shakib, also the vice-captain of the ODI side, said. "Take India as an example. Over the last four years, their players have been injured the least and that is because they adopted a rotation policy. That created a lot of players and a lot of players got exposure. At the same time, when players returned they were fresh and performed well."

"So, we have to understand this and work on it. I think players, coaching staff and the board will have to be in close communication and on the same page about this. Otherwise, negative talk surrounding this will emerge if the information is not conveyed well."

He also weighed in on Tamim Iqbal's trouble with the bat.

"Look, a player can go through such a patch. I think it is most important for him to have a good rest, recover and become fresh and come back strongly. I am sure he will do that."