'A player’s task is to...' - Shakib Al Hasan answers critics after scoring unbeaten half-century in T20 World Cup clash against Netherlands

Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the Bangladesh team after a long time. However, many critics questioned his inconsistent batting and bowling as he is the senior player and should be more responsible. Moreover, India's former batter, Virender Sehwag, also bashed the player for playing irresponsible shots in the previous matches. Nevertheless, Hasan played a brilliant innings against the Netherlands in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which answered all the criticism he has been facing recently.   

"A player never comes (enters the field) to answer anyone else. A player’s task is to bat if he is a batter, contribute to the team, bowl well if he is a bowler as getting wickets sometimes also depends on luck, and if he is a fielder then to save runs and take the catches that come his way," said Shakib Al Hasan at the presentation. 

Hasan made an unbeaten 64 runs off 46 balls against Netherlands, which helped the team score 159 runs. They won the match quite comfortably with 25 runs and are on the way to qualifying for the Super 8. If the team continues to play amazingly and win one more match, they can qualify for the next stage. 

'We didn't know how the conditions would behave' - Skipper Shanto on the pitch conditions 

After winning the match and getting those two valuable points, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto was elated with the team's performance. At the post-match presentation, he discussed the pitch and the outfield. As per the captain, unlike the pitches of other grounds, Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent's pitch was good, and the ball was coming onto the bat, which helped them put up a good score on the board. 

"We didn't know how the conditions would behave. Very hard for the batters but they did a great job. Very good outfield and the pitch also looked good. There was some uneven bounce with the new ball but that can happen," said Shanto at the post-match presentation.