How Indian media reacted to Shakib’s ‘bombshell’

“The grossly misunderstood maverick”: that is how the media outlet PTI described Shakib Al Hasan after he dropped a bombshell yesterday, announcing his international retirement plans.
The 37-year-old poster boy of Bangladesh cricket has dominated discussions here. Last night, while talking to a reporter from India, he gave his thoughts on the buzz Shakib has created.
“He is the eminence when it comes to all-rounders, it is only expected that he will stir everyone. The number one all-rounder in all formats for a number of years, so Shakib’s news is big here,” a member of the Indian media commented when asked by The Daily Star.
PTI’s description is quaint but true in essence. “He is anything but a ‘people pleaser.’ He is more in-your-face and carried his weight around, and the Bangladeshi cricketing establishments over the years have found it a bit overbearing,” they wrote, bringing back his remark about becoming like Anil Kapoor from a movie called Nayak and changing what is wrong with BPL in a day.
The situation Shakib faces is surreal. The country’s greatest cricketer cannot return home because of politics. Even Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) appear to have nothing in their hands.
Strewn across its sports page, one of the largest Hindi dailies in India, Dainik Jagran, wrote in its headline that “Bangladesh’s greatest ever player fears returning home”. Shakib had made the top corner of the front page as the paper’s special highlight as well.
Shakib himself had talked about his fears yesterday during the press conference in Kanpur.
English daily The Indian Express had Shakib in its second lead in a three-column write-up, headlined: “Shakib says Kanpur Test could be his last”.
The Economic Times wrote: “Shakib Al Hasan Drops Retirement Bombshell”.
PTI had ended their story with a comparison between Shakib and Bangladesh’s best cricketers. “Mohammed Ashraful was a minefield of talent gone astray, Tamim Iqbal had the game and brain, Mushfiqur Rahim was determination personified, but when it came to overall impact, there was no one like Shakib,” they wrote.
Shakib conquers like he usually does as the Kanpur Test looks to Shakib to make it memorable.