Papon hopeful about Shakib’s comeback in Sri Lanka series
Pic: Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan Papon said on Saturday that they are sanguine of returning Shakib Al Hasan to the international cricket with the upcoming Sri Lanka series.
Bangladesh team’s tour in Sri Lanka has already been finalised. If everything is okay, Bangladesh will fly to Sri Lanka on September 23, one month before the start of the original series.
The BCB has done everything to get Shakib on this comeback tour. Shakib will end his one-year suspension on October 28. That’s meant he is up for the grabs from October 29.
Papon said they will pick Shakib before the end of his suspension because he needed some more time to improve his fitness for the international matches. I held talks with Shakib over the phone.
“I willn’t tell you in detail what has been held with him (Shakib). But I will say only this whenever his suspension will be lifted, he will be eligible to play for us. When he will be free, he will be entitled to play for us. There is no doubt about it,” said Nazmul Hassan.
“We are all eagerly waiting for him when he comes. But his fitness and other things are involved with his games for which we have appointed our trainer, medical department behind him so that he feels any discomfort to start his fitness,” Papon told media after the end of the National Mourning Day 2020 programme which marks the 45th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur today.
“He will come towards the end of the current month and start his practice. Hopefully he will be fit and could be joined with the team in Sri Lanka. He will practice in Sri Lanka and play his games for the team,” he added.
In addition, Shakib was suspended for two years including a suspended year for not reporting to the ICC Anti-corruption unit about the sinister approaches of the book-maker on several occasions in 2018.
He has no chance to enjoy any facilities of the BCB. Even he is not allowed to use any infrastructure of the BCB during the suspended period. And so, the BCB thinks to give him discreet facilities to have practice in Sri Lanka.
“There is a matter of his preparation for the international games. For this, he practices in his own way as he could not practice with the team. For his ICC suspension, he can’t practice with the team. He thinks differently about what he shared with me. He comes back this month,” Nazmul Hassan concluded.
