Inside story of how all-rounder revealed plans on India arrival

FORMER Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan on Thursday announced that the Mirpur Test against visiting South Africa will be his last in the format if he is assured of his safety in the country and also a safe exit after the match.

- FIROZ MIRZA

The batting all-rounder bared his heart to teammates, support staff and selector Hannan Sarkar, who is travelling with the team.

"Shakib, who joined the squad later, shared his thoughts with us on arrival. We spoke extensively to him on the issue and later apprised the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) of his decision," Sarkar told this daily.

The first Test in Chennai started on September 19. The visitors lost the match by 280 runs on the fourth day. Given the situation, the discussion must be on for more than a week following which Shakib made his decision public on Thursday.

Sarkar, a former Bangladesh player, held Shakib one of the finest cricketers the country has ever produced and said it must not have been easy to walk away from Test cricket. "You can understand how many times we all must have discussed this thing.