Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan’s underwhelming run in the ODI World Cup 2023 became a major talking point back home. Unlike a phenomenal all-round show during the 2019 edition of the tournament, the veteran all-rounder struggled to get runs this year. Four years ago, he had accumulated 606 runs and 11 wickets in England but coming to India, his score dipped to 186 runs in seven matches at an average of 26.57.
Shakib even returned home in the middle of the tournament to work with his childhood mentor Nazmul Abedin. But that didn’t help him either as he was majorly troubled by the short balls. At times, he was seen batting with a different stance.
A month after the conclusion of the tournament, the Bangladesh skipper has revealed that he played the entire World Cup with a blurred vision from stress-related issues.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Shakib opened up about his eye problem and stated that he had huge discomfort while facing the ball.
“It is not in one or two games in the World Cup, rather I was having it (the eye problem) throughout the World Cup,” Shakib told Cricbuzz.
The report further suggested that the veteran cricketer most likely played with one eye, assuming a certain direction of the ball.
“It could have happened. I had huge discomfort facing the ball,” he said.
“The thing is that when I went to the doctor there was water in my cornea or retina and they had given me drops and told me that I have to lower my stress. I am not sure whether that was the reason (for my eye problem). But when I again checked in America (after the World Cup) there was no stress and I told the doctor there is no World Cup so naturally there is no stress,” said Shakib.
‘Team was not ready the way I was thinking’
Shakib, however, didn’t cite captaincy as a reason for stress during the tournament in which his team endured only 2 wins out of 9 games and eventually, failed to secure a berth in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
“I’m not ready to put that as an excuse for stress as I have done captaincy. But if I had got that earlier, it would have been easy because if I had time I could make everything ready and go there,” he said.
“The problem I faced (as a captain) was that the team was not ready the way I was thinking or the philosophy through which I wanted to play. If you see not only during the World Cup but through 2023 our ODI performances were not good,” he added.
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