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Bangla skipper returns to roots
Bangladesh skipper Shakib-Al Hasan was up early on Sunday and drove down to the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) in Dhaka.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib-Al Hasan was up early on Sunday and drove down to the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) in Dhaka.
The sprawling 120-acre multi-discipline sports training centre built on the lines of NIS Patiala is the biggest supply line to Bangladesh cricket.
Shakib, wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim, off-spinner Naeem Islam, left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo, medium-pacer Nazmul Hossain and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak from the World Cup squad learnt their cricket there.
Shakib's main purpose of the visit was to say goodbye to his mentor Mohammad Salahuddin, a former coach of the institution who will leave for Malaysia on Monday to take charge as a high performance instructor in a university there.
BKSP chief coach Masud Hasan said: "Salahuddin had picked Shakib during a talent hunt in 2002. But Shakib was under a different coach and was not getting a chance to play in our training matches. Salahuddin requested Shakib's coach and he made a 70 in that match. That was when he came to our notice," he told HT. The BKSP team was in the third division of the Dhaka league when in 2004 Salahuddin, who was then the coach of the premier league defending champions Victoria Club, signed Shakib and fielded him. Shakib did not look back since.
