The captain of the Test and T20I team of Bangladesh spoke to Prothom Alo in an interview where he revealed about the changes he has gone through in his career. Shakib Al Hasan was assigned the task of captaincy in 2009 when Mashrafe Mortaza fell prey to the fangs of injury.

He was supposed to be the stand-in skipper but had to take over the job on a permanent basis due to Mashrafe’s consistent battles with injuries. He was, however, stripped from his role in 2011 after losing an ODI series against Zimbabwe.

Life, they say, is a circle and it came to that for the best all-rounder in the world when he was appointed the captain of the T20I national team in 2017 and then the Test captaincy a bit later.

When asked about the difference between him now and back then, he said: “I talk less now. I was also perhaps more involved with the side before and worked even more!”

When quipped that he has perhaps become less of an introvert now than he was before, he dismissed those claims as the 'assumption" of the masses. He also added that he was always good at bonding with his team-mates.

“Who knows [if I have become less introvert]. It is all people’s assumptions. Opinions vary from person to person. My assumption about me is this [what I said earlier].

“I can’t say for sure [whether I am an introvert], but none of my team-mates could say that I don’t know how to blend with them.”

After the arrival of Shakib Al Hasan in the Nidahas trophy, Bangladesh seemed a bit more galvanized. Shakib, however, stayed coy on his way of motivating the team while also revealing that he doesn’t really dream much, owing to the fact that he is more of a realist.