Mumbai: Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan expressed hope for improved relations between the India and Bangladesh cricket boards. These relations soured after Bangladesh decided against traveling to India for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup tournament as a protest against their seamer Mustafizur Rahman being dropped from the Kolkata Knight Riders squad.
Shakib, a veteran of nearly 450 internationals in all formats, has played when there was a healthy relation between the two cricket boards. The all-rounder is optimistic that things will be resolved under the new regime in Bangladesh. “I think things will get better,” Shakib told the media on the sidelines of the EUT20 Belgium’s jersey launch event on Wednesday in Mumbai.
“Obviously, efforts need to be made and I think one or two series, if Bangladesh visits India or India goes to Bangladesh…(they are) playing a series which I heard might happen in August or September. If that happens, I think the ice will break and things will get better,”
Shakib described Bangladesh’s absence from the T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka earlier this year as a blunder. Bangladesh decided not to travel to India for the tournament and was ultimately replaced by Scotland in the ICC event.
“We are a cricket-loving country and a country like Bangladesh not participating in the World Cup was a big miss. It’s a blunder from the government’s side that they took the decision not to participate,” said Shakib.
“(It was a) great miss as far as Bangladesh cricket is concerned because we, as a country, love watching our players play World Cups and play (those) matches.”