'Don’t see anything coming to an end'
Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is entering a new chapter in his life as he is contesting in the national polls from Magura-1. For Shakib, cricket will have to take a backseat for a while. Still new to his political career, he was not keen on some of the hard questions on both politics and cricket. However, during an interview with Abdullah Al Mehdi of The Daily Star, Shakib did say things that somewhat contradicted his original stance about not featuring in the next ODI World Cup and the national team captaincy issue, which gained steam as of late with many suggesting a change in leadership, especially since Najmul Hossain Shanto did bring promising results in his short stint as an an interim skipper.
The Daily Star (DS): Since you are still playing cricket, do you feel you rushed into politics?
Shakib Al Hasan (SAH): No, I feel that this is the right time.
DS: Is that because you feel that you are in the last few years of your career?
SAH: No, actually it's not like I am seeing the end of something. I don't see anything coming to an end.
DS: You are a fan of Lionel Messi. He's an introvert and maybe he often did not talk all that much. Maybe there's an introverted side to you as well. But how does it affect your politics?
SAH: I have never felt that I am an introvert.
DS: You have stirred controversies and headlines for those. But more often than not a reaction does not come from you. Do you actually laugh out when you hear some of the controversies?
SAH: I don't really think about these controversies a lot.
DS: Do you feel that you have already played your last ODI World Cup?
SAH: I don't know it myself. Time will tell.
DS: What impact did you see in the side due to Tamim Iqbal not playing in the World Cup?
SAH: It's difficult to say with it never really happening. If he had played well then it would have been good for the team and it would have affected positively. And, had he played badly, it would have been better if he was not there. You can only understand something like that after the game has ended. So that's not something I can say.
DS: Is there a possibility for you to mend your relationship with Tamim?
SAH: Actually, the focus is elsewhere, and the question you asked is not something I am interested in.
DS: How do you manage the workload of such heavy campaigning for the election and the pressure that comes with it?
SAH: I have the energy and that's what I am using.
DS: How do you feel about continuing Test cricket?
SAH: The thing that I want to say is that I do not want to ponder about anything else [other than the national polls] before January 7 [the election day]. After that, I will prepare for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and when I am playing that, I will be able to think this matter over after discussing with the board about what I can do.
DS: What do you feel about the batting order shuffle in the World Cup?
SAH: Maybe it would have been good to not shuffle or maybe it would not have. Who knows what would have happened? Maybe if the shuffling was not done, it could have been worse. You can not guarantee that not shuffling the batting order would have been good for the side.
DS: What do you think is the major reason behind the World Cup debacle?
SAH: I do not see any reason. What you are asking is something I need to discuss with the Bangladesh Cricket Board.