Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is in the midst of a one-year ban from ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach by a bookie, revealed the role of AB de Villiers in him batting at no.3 for Bangladesh during the 2019 World Cup in England.
Shakib revealed that it was a difficult decision to arrive at given that not all were in agreement of his new batting position.
Shakib was in superb form for Bangladesh with the bat throughout the World Cup. He made 606 runs in the tournament, in addition to picking up 11 wickets along with his two centuries and five half-centuries in the eight matches that he played in.
“I was talking to De Villiers during the BPL before the World Cup,” Shakib recalled as revealed by Cricbuzz. “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.