Kolkata: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan has been named as the member of the MCC World Cricket Committee on October 5. Shakib thus becomes the first Bangladeshi cricketer to be made the member of the prestigious institution, which includes the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum amongst others.
The left-hander took to Facebook to confirm the development where he posted a picture of the appointment letter with the caption, “I truly feel humbled that you have chosen me to be a member of the Prestigious MCC World Cricket Committee. Thank you for bestowing me with such an honour.”
Shakib has performed really well in recent times. He and Mahmadullah were involved in a brilliant partnership in the Champions Trophy which helped Bangladesh make it to the semis of an ICC event for the very first time. He also played a stellar role, both with the bat and the ball in helping Bangladesh beat Australia in a Test match for the first time in the history of cricket. Such continued hard-work has eventually paid off for him.
The 30-year-old last played for Bangladesh in the drawn Test series against Australia after which he approached his country’s cricket board to be rested for the two-match Test series against South Africa so as to enable him to take some rest and focus on all formats of the game in the future. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) complied to his request.
“Shakib wrote a letter to us asking for a six-month break,” Akram said. “He can miss the first Test against South Africa but if he wants, he can play the second Test. He will not be traveling with the team but he can tell us what he decides to do,” said Akram Khan, a BCB official.
He also realised that this decision by the star all-rounder has been made keeping his workload in mind.
He added, “We can’t always be thinking about us. We should also keep his fatigue into consideration.”
In the ongoing two-match Test series against South Africa, Bangladesh were beaten comprehensively in the first game and would look to bounce back in the next match scheduled to begin on October 6. Earlier, they drew the two-match home Test series against Australia 1-1.