Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is all set to miss the upcoming South Africa tour after he was granted a break from all forms of cricket by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 9.
Shakib has been granted a break till April 30 to deal with "mental stress" and "fatigue", which means he won’t be available for both the three-match ODI series and the two-match Test series, as the bilateral series between South Africa and Bangladesh will run till April 8-12.
The 34-year-old was initially named in both the ODI and Test squads for the South Africa tour, but following his statement of being mentally and physically exhausted, the BCB decided to give him a much-needed break.
BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus told reporters: “He’s mentally stressed and fatigued. He told me at this point of time, he is not enjoying any form of cricket.”
He added, “He always said one thing that he is not enjoying, unfit and not ready. Since he’s ‘mentally fatigued and physically stressed’, after discussion with the CEO and the president, we have decided to give him rest from all forms of cricket till April 30.”
The nearly two-month break would mean that Shakib will also miss the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), where he was expected to play for Mohammedan Sporting.
Yunus concluded, “Shakib is an all-rounder, an important player for us. We have the World Cup coming up, We want him for one more big series and if a player wants to skip and not enjoying, we want to give him complete rest and spend time with his family.”
Shakib had last month pulled out of the Test series in New Zealand and since 2017 the premier all-rounder has featured in 15 of the 33 Tests played by Bangladesh.
(With PTI Inputs)
