Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan reveals he never thought of making cricket his 'profession'

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan revealed that he never aspired to be a professional cricketer and that he only played the sport for 'passion' and as a 'hobby.' In an interview with his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Shakib stated that he had only considered cricket a profession after playing international cricket for 2-3 years. The world's No. 1 all-rounder in ODIs went on to reveal that as a child, his family members had always wanted him to be a teacher, a doctor, or an engineer, and not a cricketer.

"I used to like the game, and I started playing it, and I loved it. That was like my passion and hobby kind of thing, but I never thought of making it a profession for me. From a middle-class background in 2000, I don't think anyone from Bangladesh would think of making a career out of any sport. So, whenever I used to go on any tour of U-15, U-17, or U-19, I used to have all the books of my class. I used to study those and when I came back, I had to take my exams. My family only used to call and say 'Did you do your study? Did you eat today?' They never asked me whether I did well in my game or I trained well or not," Shakib said. 

Shakib-al-Hasan made his international debut for Bangladesh in 2006. Recently, he went past Mashrafe Mortaza to become Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals. As far as Shakib's rankings in Test and T20I cricket are concerned, the 34-year-old is placed at the number five spot in the all-rounder's category in the longest format and at number two in the 20-over format. 

Shakib's international run for Bangladesh

Shakib has played 58 Tests, 214 ODIs, and 76 T20Is for his country in the past 15 years of his international experience. Shakib has scored 3,933 runs in the longest format at an average of 39.33 and has scored 6,570 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 37.97. Shakib has five centuries in Tests and 9 in 50-over cricket. Shakib also has 217 wickets in Tests and 134 in ODIs. Shakib was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup. 

Image: AP