Shakib Al Hasan’s involvement in the second Test between India and Bangladesh, which begins on Friday, has been an area of concern, but head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe clarified them by stating the all-rounder is “eligible for selection”.
Shakib attended Bangladesh’s training session on Wednesday in Kanpur, albeit his visit was brief. In the first Test in Chennai, he did not bowl until the 53rd over of India’s opening innings and was surprisingly costly. His performance was clearly below average. Although Shakib might have been dealing with a finger injury, David Hemp, Bangladesh’s batting coach, declared he was not aware of it in Chennai, and Hathurusinghe reaffirmed that position in Kanpur.
“I haven’t heard anything officially or any complaints (about Shakib),” he said. “There is no doubt about that at the moment. I haven’t heard from my physio or from anyone. He’s still eligible for selection.”
Shakib who has been the backbone of the Bangladesh side, has been significantly underperforming as per his standards in red-ball cricket lately. His form has been a concern ever since the issue to his eyes. Shakib has not been at his best in the longest format. He was also seen using a rare technique to keep his head still while batting in the Chennai test.
Shakib scored 32 and 25 in Bangladesh’s 280-run loss, with bowling figures of 0 for 50 in eight overs and 0 for 79 in 13 overs in Chennai. Hathurisinghe responded as follows when asked if Shakib’s performance had upset him: “I’m not. I’m upset not about his performance but our overall performance, we could have done better. I’m sure that he also thinks that he can perform better. We all know what he’s capable of. I think he batted really well in the second innings. He couldn’t go on. Not because of a lack of pride. It’s the sheer quality of the opposition.”
Bangladesh failed miserably to survive against the top-quality Indian bowling attack in the 1st test. Their batting as a whole has been underperforming recently. The venue for the second test, Kanpur is expected to produce more homely conditions to them, a pitch that would offer less bounce and hopefully some turn as well.
Hathurisinghe claimed that the players had discussed their flaws and it’s about “whether we’re able to do that in the middle. We have our KPIs, and what we want, and we normally talk about if you make a start, make it big. That’s the biggest concern because some of the guys got 30 balls (and then got out). In cricket, it’s the hardest thing to get in. But then, this team, India, has been posing different challenges, so we know that as well. So we have to be better for longer.”
The second test is set to begin on the 27th of September at Green Park in Kanpur.
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