DHAKA —Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan received a ban from the International Cricket Council (ICC) a week before Bangladesh’s tour of India last year. Bangladesh in fact was preparing for the tour as Shakib was set to lead the side in both T20 and Test series. However Shakib’s ban came as a mental breakdown for the team.
Bangladesh though won a T20 match in India, they suffered humiliating defeat in the rest of the two T20 matches and two Tests. Moreover Shakib’s ban came at a moment when Bangladesh had packed International schedule.
Shakib was supposed to miss a total of 36 matches in one year. But the deadly coronavirus pandemic around the world brings a lot of good fortune for Shakib. Bangladesh has been out of international cricket for almost seven months due to Coronavirus.
Bangladesh played only four Tests, three ODIs and seven T20Is during the suspension period of Shakib.
List of matches that Shakib missed due to being banned.
India series
Mominul Haque was appointed as Test captain hurriedly after Shakib was banned. His first assignment was India series and Bangladesh suffered humiliating defeats in those two Test matches. Mahmudullah Riyad took charge of the T20 team in Shakib’s absence. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh made a fantastic start by defeating India in the first T20 but lost the last two and thereby lost the series by 2-1.
Pakistan series
The Tigers visited Pakistan in January. Bangladesh played two T20 matches against the hosts there. Unfortunately they lost both of the matches. Then they go on to play another Test in February. Due to the failure of the batsmen, Bangladesh also lost that Test.
Zimbabwe series
Team Tiger made up for the failure of the previous two series with this series at home. Captain Mominul Haque saw the first Test win. The Tigers then whitewashed Zimbabwe in the T20 as well. With this series, Mashrafe bin Murtaza, the most successful captain of Bangladesh, stepped down from the ODI captaincy.
The series that Shakib would have missed due to corona
Pakistan series
Bangladesh was scheduled to play one more Test and one ODI against Pakistan. The schedule was finalized in April. But in mid-March, the series was postponed due to Covid-19.
Ireland series
Bangladesh was scheduled to tour the United Kingdom in May to play a three-match ODI and the same number of T20 series against Ireland. The tour has been postponed indefinitely.
Australia series
Australia was scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh in June to play two Tests of the World Test Championship. That series has also been postponed indefinitely due to Corona.
Sri Lanka series
Bangladesh was scheduled to play three Tests in Sri Lanka in July. The tour has also been put on hold. Later, the series was supposed to be over after the Corona crisis, but the series has been postponed due to various complications.
T20 World Cup
The T20 World Cup was scheduled to start on October 15 in Australia this year. When that time started, Shakib was supposed to miss at least three matches in the first round. But due to Corona, the event was postponed for a year. So Shakib did not miss any match.BSS
