Najmul seeks to give Shakib-Mahmudullah a certain ‘gift’

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was on one side while unrelenting Mahmudullah on the other with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto in between the two.

This was a section of the seat arrangement at Mirpur for the official photo session of the squad announced for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. The two players were the most deserving candidates for the two seats.

Shakib and Mahmudullah will bear many identities in the World Cup that will be held in the Caribbean Islands and the US. Firstly, they are the most experienced players of the Bangladesh team and also former captains. Naturally the team will depend on them a lot.

Shakib captained the Tigers in the latest ICC World Cup in Australia in 2022. Before him, Mahmudullah was the team captain in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE in 2021. Another probable similarity between the two players is - it is highly likely that this would be their last World Cup.

Najmul is a young captain; the squad is also young except Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed.

But Najmul Hossain did not speak much about two of his most experienced players in the media conference following the photo session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur before boarding the flight for the World Cup venue Wednesday night. That was not necessary either.

In his carefully chosen words, the skipper succinctly stated what he expects from Shakib and Mahmudullah in the global event. “I don’t expect anything extra from Shakib bhai and Riyad bhai (Mahmudullah). The way they have been performing, the roles they have, if they could carry out that, the team will be immensely benefited.”

In short, the captain wants Shakib and Mahmudullah to enrich the team with their huge experiences. “I would want them to share their experiences with other members of the team; show us the scopes of development. Then we could do a lot better,” Najmul said at the media conference.

But what do the Bangladesh team want to give as a gift to the two seniors?
At the outset, Najmul contradicted the thoughts that this could be the final World Cup for Shakib and Mahmudullah.

He added, “We the relatively younger team members surely will try to give them a very good memory as a gift, especially because they have been serving the team for such a long time. Surely this is our responsibility to give them a gift of a good World Cup.”