Shakib decides to stay with team in South Africa
Shakib Al Hasan cleared the air about his availability for the rest of the South Africa series.
There were talks of Shakib returning to Dhaka tonight to stay with his ailing family members. But the all-rounder has decided to stay with the team in South Africa for now and continue with the series.
Shakib’s mother and two of his three children are currently hospitalised in Dhaka.
After a couple of conflicting statements from cricket board high ups, Shakib Al Hasan dispersed all doubts by deciding to stay with the team and take part in the third and the series-deciding One-Day International against South Africa on 23 March.
Shakib’s mother was admitted in a hospital in Dhaka before he boarded the flight to South Africa. Upon landing, he learnt that two of his children are also sick and have been hospitalised.
The management had planned to send the all-rounder back to Bangladesh after the third ODI. But there were no flights available to Dhaka from Centurion on that day.
However, there were flights available on Monday. So, the management wanted to get him on a Dhaka-bound flight tonight. But the all-rounder put a stop to those plans by declaring he wants to play the third ODI.
National team director Khaled Mahmud explained what happened before Shakib took the final call to stay with the team.
"Shakib has a medical emergency. Many members of his family are ill. He is feeling a little hesitant. He has spoken with his family in Dhaka about returning. We tried to book a ticket for him. We had decided that he would leave tonight. But Shakib himself is not ready to leave, he wants to play the match before leaving. I can only say this, he was supposed to leave, but now he will leave after playing the third ODI."
Mahmud further said that Shakib really wants to win the ODI series against South Africa, which is currently squared up at 1-1.
"He (Shakib) is very eager to play. He was the player of the match in the first ODI, didn’t get any runs in the second match but bowled really well. He wants to play and win the series. He knows how difficult it is to get the team combination right without him. But this is a great thing. Shakib is making a sacrifice for the team. It’s a great thing for Bangladesh cricket too. We pray that all of Shakib’s family members will recover."
Earlier on the day, cricket website Cricinfo and several other local news media reported quoting BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus that Shakib will return home tonight.
Jalal made these comments just hours after BCB’s chief executive officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury assured that Shakib will remain in South Africa and return after completing the series.