Prothom Alo :

Since you haven’t been playing for the national team, you’ve had a fair amount of leisure time. You’ve been spending it with your family. Compared to the constant busyness of your career, life over the past two years has been somewhat different. You’ve surely had time for self-reflection and looking back—do you notice any mistakes or regrets?

Shakib: Not many, really. However, I feel that by Bangladeshi standards, I did many things ahead of my time—from playing in franchise leagues to commercial endorsements. I always faced hurdles whenever I went to play in a franchise league. There were issues with taking leave between or around matches for endorsements as well. Now, look, these things have become quite normal.

In many instances, it is you [the media] who now ask why leave isn’t being granted for franchise leagues, why a certain player isn’t being allowed to go, or why someone is being held back for a series against a particular country! But in my time, I was repeatedly branded a traitor. No one supported me. Even so, it’s fine… someone has to start, after all. Perhaps because it happened that way for me, it became easier for those who followed.