Courtesy: X
Shakib Al Hasan, who had announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game last month, will not be a part of the Bangladesh cricket team in the upcoming three-match T20I series against India. With that, the Bangladesh players will have a chance to replace Shakib Al Hasan in the playing XI against a formidable opponent in their own den, and former Pakistan cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed commented on the matter by stating that the youngster will have to learn from the veteran cricketer, to have the best chance of attaining success in his role.
Notably, Shakib Al Hasan had an elongated career in the T20I format, playing for more than 17 years in Bangladesh colours, earning 129 caps in the process. The 37-year-old went on to represent Bangladesh in multiple T20 World Cups, and became the highest run-getter and the wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game for the national team.
Shakib's strength was that he was a big player because he got a big heart: Mushtaq Ahmed
In his latest interview, Mushtaq Ahmed, who served Bangladesh as the spin bowling coach, remarked that the youngsters have a brilliant opportunity to succeed Shakib Al Hasan, but they will need to have a “big heart” just like him. He was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “They have to be big hearted players. Shakib's strength was that he was a big player because he got a big heart. He was never worried about the failures. In international cricket, you need to have a big heart.”
The 54-year-old was all praises about how Shakib Al Hasan took his chance at the international level, and attained unparalleled success for a Bangladesh cricket player. He said, “Shakib's another strength was that he used to take chances and international cricket is all about taking chances. When the great players are at the top of their game, they don't give a sniff to their opposition. They will win the game when the opposition is down. That was Shakib's strength. Whenever he was in a good rhythm like 2019 World Cup, he was the best player because he was scoring a lot of runs and he was getting wickets.”
Mushtaq Ahmed also looked forward to how the youngsters will be able to replicate the success achieved by Shakib Al Hasan, “I think that's important for both Mehidy and Mahedi to get the opportunity and they avail the opportunity for Bangladesh and for themselves also. I think Mehidy and everyone whoever plays white ball cricket, they have to improve their batting like Shakib used to do. Obviously they need to win matches win bat also.”
