Shakib Al Hasan is in the hot water. Shakib has been the face of Bangladesh cricket for one and a half decade but now he is having the edge over the senior players to face. A lingering discomfort in the index finger of his left hand has also been a problem for the Bangladesh camp. But coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on Wednesday conveniently refrained from fuelling any more discussion on Shakib’s status in the team.
“I have not heard from my physio or from anyone, He is still fit and can be selected” was the ‘brief’ and tone rather nonchalant response from Hathurusinghe when the question about Shakib was raised. The coach however, refrained from making an individual issue out of Shakib after the innings defeat in the opening Test of the 3 match series held at Chennai. “I am not disappointed from his performance. This overall performance, we could have done better. I’m sure he knows that. We all know what he can do,” he said.
Hathurusinghe also gave Shakib proper credit for his last day defense in which he made a modest 25 off 56 in the second innings scored in Chennai. In the first innings, batting for the visitors, he had top scored with 32 off 64 balls.
“When he came to bat for the second innings, he did it well. This was not because of a lack of pride and so he was not able to go on. It is due to the strength of the other team,” said the coach in support of the talented player.
