Banned all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has said that the biggest challenge post his return will be to start from where he left off in international cricket. Shakib, who has been subdued since receiving the one-year ban from the ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach by a bookie, termed the incident as nothing but ignorance.

The all-rounder is currently staying in America at his father-in-law’s place and will be able to make a comeback to competitive cricket after completing the one-year ban on October 29 this year.

“I have realized that there are certain things that you just cannot take lightly due to ignorance and probably that is the biggest lesson I learnt during this time,” Shakib was quoted in DW Bangla following a live program on Monday (May 11).

“It is very difficult time for me because at the back of the mind you always think that I am not playing or not being able to play. The good thing is that I was able to stay with my wife during the birth of our second child. I could not do that when my first daughter was born and I am trying to be with them in the lockdown. For me making sure that I am not depressed is extremely important as I am locked down in my house.” he said while adding he isn’t thinking about regaining captaincy once the ban is over.

“First of all, I want to return to the game. I will return to the game after 4-5 months. No other decision (will be taken) before that. The biggest challenge is to be able to start again from where I had stopped, that is what I’m expecting from myself. Wish I can start from where I ended up. That is the challenge for me, nothing else.

The allrounder added that his countrymen should refrain from blaming the board when it was put forward to him that there is a perception in Bangladesh that Shakib was not backed by the BCB properly during this saga. “ICC Anti corruption unit works independently. So if anyone feels like that (BCB could have played a better role), then they should come out of this mindset,” said Shakib.

The 33-year-old added that South African great AB de Villiers inspired him to bat at number three in the World Cup adding that it was a difficult decision considering everyone was against it.

Shakib was in superlative form with the bat throughout the tournament scoring 606 runs to etch his name alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Mathew Hayden and Rohit Sharma, as the only players to have scored over 600 runs in a single edition of the tournament. He also picked up 11 wickets along with his two centuries and five half-centuries in the eight matches that he played in.

Recently, former ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza admitted during a live session with Tamim Iqbal that the whole team was against promoting him at the top of the batting order in the World Cup but he was convinced as he knew Shakib would take the challenge.

“I was talking to De Villiers during the BPL before the World Cup,” Shakib recalled. “It was just a normal conversation. He told me that at times he has batted late. If he had batted at number three then he could have contributed more to the team and scored more runs. Thinking about the team, he always had to play at four, five, six. His theory was to play in the middle order and score 70-80, which sometimes gives the advantage to the team and sometimes it doesn’t work. But had he batted at three, then he could have scored 100-120 and might have won more.

“I thought I would take the centerstage after the fall of two-three wickets and take the team forward. Things were like that in his case too. He was saying at that time, had he batted at three, he could have scored more runs and that would have put less pressure on the next batsman. There are two ways to think, I will not say which is right and which is wrong. The point is, when you make a decision, your intentions are the most important.

“Since then I have been thinking that as I have batted at the top in the T20s, I thought that I can contribute more to the team through my batting (in ODIs too) which I wasn’t able to do. Then I decided that I want to bat in the top order. We didn’t have anyone specific in this position, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

”The challenge was much bigger since it was the World Cup. Even the night before the match, I got phone calls, like, sure? Do I have to do it or not? Things were very stressful. When everyone is hesitant, it becomes more difficult for you to make a decision. If everyone is with you, then it is a different matter.

Shakib said that he is not ruling out playing the next World Cup and added that he feels they will a force to reckon with since the tournament is scheduled to be played in spin-friendly familiar conditions.

“I don’t want to look too far,” he remarked. “In the back of my mind, I’m thinking I can play by having the required fitness and form. I think we can do well there and I felt we had a good chance (in 2019). We could not play to our potential but that won’t be case in 2023 and as it will be played in Asia I don’t think we need to be afraid of any team. I think the team is in a rebuilding phase and it might take some time but I feel we can go to the World Cup with a very balanced side.”