A few days ago, Shakib Al Hasan said that it would be a big mistake to think about the World Cup after watching the Zimbabwe series. He also said that this series is not ideal for preparing for the World Cup.

SBS Desk

May 06, 2024

1 minute

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Shakib mischievous, Zimbabwe's World Cup series not ready: Papon

A few days ago, Shakib Al Hasan said that it would be a big mistake to think about the World Cup after watching the Zimbabwe series. He also said that this series is not ideal for preparing for the World Cup.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hasan Papon faced questions from reporters on Monday (May 6) over Shakib's comments. At that time he made the opposite comment of Shakib.

(Shakib) said so, I think. Because I say, if that was the case, I think he (Shakib) could have played T20, ODI too. He chose ODI (Dhaka League) before the World Cup. I think mischief has been done to you.

Earlier, Shakib said, 'Look, if we think about the World Cup considering the game with Zimbabwe-USA, I think it will be very wrong. The World Cup is a completely different place, the more pressure we can handle there, the better we are likely to do.'

"Obviously playing against Zimbabwe is not ideal. When you play a tough opponent; When we went to the World Cup (2022) playing in tough conditions like New Zealand and Pakistan, naturally we were able to prepare very well. It seems to me that it is definitely not ideal. It felt like this was the best possible position for us to prepare.'

Shakib sees the five-match series against Zimbabwe as preparation for the T20 World Cup, but the BCB president doesn't think so. Earlier in the last World Cup, Bangladesh played a tri-series against New Zealand and Pakistan on New Zealand soil.

Papon said, 'I don't see it as preparation. For example, this series against Zimbabwe is not a preparation for the World Cup. This is our FTP game. Do I give them points in the FTP game? It (World Cup preparations) has nothing to do with it (Zimbabwe series).'

However, the BCB president is considering the series against the USA before the World Cup as a way to adapt to the conditions, and we want to play in the USA to adjust to their conditions, wickets and everything. If you ask me, we should have ended it earlier. If you talk about preparation, there is no preparation before two weeks. What to do should have started earlier.