Can Shakib Al Hasan be our Paolo Rossi?
The last two weeks had been one of the most difficult times for Bangladesh cricket. A director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) getting arrested on corruption charges, the players going for a strike to press home their demands and then the national team's Test and T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan getting banned -- it was like a nightmare gone way too long.
Shakib has admitted his mistakes himself, a courageous act, and vowed to come back stronger. Yet, some of the fans have not only found a number of conspiracy theories here, but they have also gone to the length of blaming it on the BCB president and the BCCI on different social media platforms, something that certainly do not give a very good impression about our cricketing mettle in front of the world.
ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit functions independently and when an investigation is ongoing only a few ICC officials know about it. And India are a big team in their own right and they do not need to hatch a plan to rule Shakib out of the equation before taking on Bangladesh.
Saying that 'I will not watch Bangladesh play in the next one year' is an insult to the rest of the squad as well. This is the first time Bangladesh are touring India and everyone donning the national team's jersey are expected to give their best, from youngsters like Shadman Islam and Abu Jayed to seasoned players like Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim.
Shakib will not be with the squad in India, but he will certainly be there in spirit. There should be no doubt that he will be rooting for the Tigers to make this tour memorable.
We have to accept that no matter how big a player is, he can make mistakes. From Diego Maradona to David Warner and Ben Stokes to Tiger Woods, almost everyone does an error in judgement at a few moments in their lives. However, the most important thing is to fight back, and that is what caps one's greatness.
We have seen the likes of David Warner, Steven Smith and Mohammad Amir getting banned in the most humiliating fashion and then returning with shows of ultimate class, and a mature fan will expect our very own Shakib to do the same.
Right at this moment, we know Shakib may return to the pitch on 29 October next year at the latest while the T20 World Cup starts nine days earlier.
Shakib's expected date of return to international cricket may remind the fans of a certain Italian. In 1980, a betting scam had ruled Paolo Rossi from football for three years, which was later slashed to a two-year ban. It meant the striker missed the European Championship in 1980, his team losing in the semifinal. The World Cup was in 1982 and the media slammed coach Enzo Bearzot when he named Rossi in his squad.
The rest is history, Rossi missed the first round but still netted six goals to lead Italy to the title as he won both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball awards.
Let us hope Shakib joins the Bangladesh squad in time to lead the Tigers to their best finish in a T20 World Cup, if not to the title.
They say it's not how many times you get knocked down that count, it's how many times you get back up.
Shakib will certainly get back up. You bet.