Shakib Al Hasan is currently far away from Bangladesh cricket—though not from cricket itself. He has been playing in various franchise-based tournaments across countries and recently signed up for a league in the United States.
The phrase “Shakib-Tamim conflict” has become one of the most talked-about topics in Bangladesh cricket. Once best friends, the relationship between Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal has been under much scrutiny. It all seems to have come to a halt at one point. During an event in the U.S. on Monday night, Shakib responded nostalgically to a question about friendship.
The star all-rounder said, “A best friend is someone you can trust.” However, in this tough phase of his career—away from his homeland—Shakib has come to a deep realization. According to him, there’s no such thing as a “best friend”:
“It’s hard to make someone your best friend. One should make best friends outside of cricket. I have many good friends in cricket, but outside of it, I have very few trusted ones—people I can actually believe in. At this age, I’ve understood one thing: there’s no such thing as a best friend. The one you can trust—that’s your best friend.”
Nostalgic Shakib also mentioned Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed, saying he misses the time spent with them. Surely, Rubel and Taskin also miss Shakib, who has remained away from Bangladesh and its cricket scene.
Shakib has been outside the country since before July last year. After the fall of the government, he never returned. Although there were talks of him playing in the South Africa series last October, he didn’t come back out of fear of public outrage.
