Mahmudullah And Bangladesh Team Excited To Welcome Back Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan will end his 12-month ban from international cricket on October 29th. T20I captain of the Bangladeshi team, Mahmudullah Riyad is elated to have Shakib back, and the team is preparing for his return to the national setup.

Last year Shakib Al Hasan was banned for a year by ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) as he failed to report approaches from a bookie, Deepak Aggarwal. The all-rounder was approached thrice by the bookie in order to gain some confidential information.

Our boy is coming back home: Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah Riyad has recently said that ‘their boy’ referring to Shakib is coming back home, which is the Bangladesh national team, and that makes him extremely happy. He said that the left-arm all-rounder has been their country’s best player for years and everyone in the team is waiting for his return to the dressing room. He expresses his desire to talk with Shakib and learn more from the all-rounder.

Mahmudullah told ESPNcricinfo, “Our boy is coming back home, which makes me very happy. We know that Shakib has been the best player for so many years, for the Bangladesh cricket team. We are all eagerly waiting for his return to the dressing room. It feels good to know that we can see him, talk to him and spend time with him.” 

He said that Shakib is a champion player, and will not take long to get in the rhythm. Bangladesh has struggled in Shakib’s absence, and Mahmudullah believes those gaps will be filled as Shakib contribute with both bat and ball- and is an important player especially with a T20 World Cup coming up in India.

“Shakib is a champion player. I think it won’t take him long to get back to rhythm. I believe that he will get it back as soon as he enters the cricket field. The biggest thing is that we can fill up the gap that his absence had created. He always makes important contributions with the bat and ball,” he added.

Shakib was a key player for Bangladesh in the 2019 World Cup as they registered memorable victories over South Africa and West Indies. He was the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 606 runs in eight matches at an average of 86. The off-spinner also picked up 11 wickets.

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