Even though Shakib Al Hasan has been away from the Bangladesh national team for the past year, his demand in franchise cricket remains strong. The 38-year-old all-rounder continues to feature in leagues worldwide and is currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Excited for a New Experience with Antigua and Barbuda Falcons
Shakib’s team, the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, took the field for their second match of the CPL on August 17. Ahead of the game, the seasoned cricketer spoke to the broadcasting channel about his journey and experience with the new team.
“𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒃 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The Falcons lost their first match against St. Kitts, but Shakib remained optimistic.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 160 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒙 𝒏𝒐𝒘,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Guiding Young Talent
As the most experienced player in the Antigua squad, Shakib is also focused on mentoring the younger cricketers.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒚,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒃 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
With his vast experience and leadership skills, Shakib hopes to make a significant impact both on and off the field as the CPL season progresses.
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