Shakib Al Hasan rues the "ignorance" he showed in not reporting a corrupt approach to the ICC, as the premier Bangladesh all-rounder continues to serve the one-year ban imposed on him by the governing body.
Outstanding during the last year's World Cup in the UK, Shakib was banned for two years in October, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code.
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Shakib's ban is set to end on October 29, which means if the T20 World Cup in Australia is played on time, between October 18 till November 15, he won't be initially included in the national squad for the marquee event.
"I have realized that there are certain things that you just cannot take lightly due to ignorance and probably that is the biggest lesson I learnt during this time," the 33-year-old was quoted as saying by DW Bangla.
"It is a very difficult time for me because at the back of the mind you always think that I am not playing or not being able to play. The good thing is that I was able to stay with my wife during the birth of our second child."
"I could not do that when my first daughter was born and I am trying to be with them in the lockdown. For me making sure that I am not depressed is extremely important as I am locked down in my house."
In his 30s now, Shakib understands what missing one year of cricket could do to the body, but he believes he'll be able to pick up from where he left.
"First of all, I want to return to the game. I will return to the game after 4-5 months. No other decision (will be taken) before that," he said. "The biggest challenge is to be able to start again from where I had stopped, that is what I’m expecting from myself."
"Wish I can start from where I ended up. That is the challenge for me, nothing else."
Batting at No.3 and delivering difficult overs through the middle phase, Shakib took a lot of responsibility upon himself during the World Cup last year. He says the move up the order was inspired by South Africa great AB de Villiers.
"I was talking to De Villiers during the BPL before the World Cup. It was just a normal conversation. He told me that at times he has batted late. If he had batted at number three then he could have contributed more to the team and scored more runs."
"Thinking about the team, he always had to play at four, five, six. His theory was to play in the middle order and score 70-80, which sometimes gives the advantage to the team and sometimes it doesn’t work," Shakib added.
"But had he batted at three, then he could have scored 100-120 and might have won more."
(Inputs from PTI)
