The heart attack was the trigger point for me. I had a heart attack last year, when I was trying to make a comeback in the national team. And when I had the heart attack, I thought that was it. After a heart attack, I do not think it was worth it for me because even if I played, I would have only played for another year or two. I have a very young family and maybe I was not ready to come back to cricket.
Will we see an India vs Bangladesh series in the near future after the relations were affected preceding the T20 World Cup?
There is a scheduled series against India later this year. I am very hopeful that India will come and play the whole series. This is one bilateral series that the people of Bangladesh really enjoy watching. They come to the ground and there is healthy competition. Bangladesh did really well in the last series against India. Whenever these two nations play, especially when India travel to Bangladesh, it is always very high-intensity cricket.
Could you talk about the shift in Bangladesh’s mentality, especially in the fast bowling department?
I watched this very closely because I was playing at that time. I think a lot of credit should go to then captain Mominul Haque. I still remember in first-class games he used to make sure that the fast bowlers bowled the maximum overs. I remember one first-class game because he and I used to play for the same team, and I went to him and said we could easily bowl spinners. He said, “No, if I do not make these fast bowlers bowl now, how are they going to learn? Regardless of whether they are doing well or not, we need fast bowlers in the national team and they need to bowl as much as possible.”
I think he was the main guy who changed the fast bowling unit. He gave maximum importance to the fast bowlers and made sure that they bowled maximum overs in domestic and international cricket. When the fast bowlers started getting success, domestic players and young kids started believing that even in Bangladesh you can become a fast bowler, get success and become a superstar. A lot of credit must go to Mominul Haque and, along the way, coaches like Allan Donald and Ottis Gibson also played a big part.
What is the future of cricket with so many global leagues and do you think ODI cricket will find space in this packed calendar, or will the 2027 ODI World Cup be the last?
Cricket’s dynamics have definitely changed.
About 50-over cricket, the ODI World Cup is still the biggest event in cricket. Yes, there is a lot of interest in T20 cricket and T20 cricket has been doing really well, but I am sure we need to find a way to balance it out. There are a lot of leagues around the world now. Even associate nations are coming up with T20 leagues.
We need to find a way where everything is balanced. If there is ever a discussion on this, I am sure everybody will have their own opinion. At the end of the day, we need to save Test cricket because it is the most respected format and there is still a lot of interest in it. You might not see big crowds in a few countries, but there are still countries where stadiums are packed for Test cricket. We need to make those things a bit more interesting.
Let’s take the example of Nahid Rana. If tomorrow a franchise, which has teams in five or six different leagues, gives a lucrative contract to the youngster and asks him to avoid red-ball cricket and become a globe-trotter, do you think it is easy for youngsters nowadays to focus on international cricket and ignore T20 leagues where they can make ten times more money?
There is one thing money cannot buy and that is the passion for playing for your country. If that was the case, 80 percent of cricketers could have gone that way. I have the utmost respect for franchise cricket, but when you play for your nation and your country, that is something you cannot buy.
Even in your country, superstars can get massive offers, but they still play for the country. These are things that come from your heart when you play for your nation.
If I have to compare it with football, players are getting paid millions and millions of dollars, but when there is an opportunity to play for their country, they still go and play. There are certain things money cannot buy and playing for your country will never change. Yes, there will be exceptions and a few cricketers might go that way, but if you ask me about the majority, I do not think that is going to change.