There is no better entertainment than watching Shakib Al Hasan bat at the nets. Training sessions two days out of a Test series are often drab, but Monday's was anything but. Shakib hacks at everything that is short or wide. He middles the pull. He moves around the crease. Basically, he simulates how he would bat in the middle.
Shoriful Islam, the left-arm quick, tests Shakib when he slams one into his pads. Later, a net bowler wearing whites, gets one to zip past Shakib's outside edge. He regroups and plays a cut shot, which goes in front of point. Then he brings out the pull. Not many players prepare this way for Test matches, but Shakib always plays his shots, even at the nets.
Roughly 70 metres from where he was batting, there was Mushfiqur Rahim. He is the exact opposite of Shakib at the nets. He is the model trainer, and doesn't waste a single ball in the nets. He has his bats neatly lined up behind him. He takes his guard, at times looks around as he would in a live game to look at where the fielders are. And he bats carefully, defending the ball under his eyes, seldom driving.
Mushfiqur faces up to Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan, with spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed overseeing proceedings. He turns the ball towards leg slip, to which Nayeem reacts with his typical flyboy celebration. Mushfiqur takes his cue and pretends to be angry that he'd been dismissed, walking off, waving his hands.
The mood shifts again and its back to full seriousness. Mushfiqur bats more carefully even as the spinners stray from their lines and lengths at times. It is hard to find anyone who has outlasted Mushfiqur in the Bangladesh nets.
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Shakib and Mushfiqur have been around for close to two decades and are the last remaining superstars of Bangladesh's Test team. Most of their peers have quit the format. Tamim Iqbal's future remains uncertain. Mahmudullah retired from Tests in 2021. Mohammad Ashraful's career ended in 2013 while Mashrafe Mortaza was more of a white-ball bowler for the last ten years of his career.
This is also a time when the country itself is calling for a new beginning. A change of government shouldn't be in this discussion about two experienced Test cricketers but in Bangladesh, cricket and politics have a direct relationship. Among the aforementioned six cricketers, two of them were members of parliament till August 5. Mashrafe isn't involved in the current scheme of things, but Shakib will be batting at No. 5 in Rawalpindi on August 21. On the day of the government falling in Bangladesh, and his party leader leaving for India, Shakib was the Player of the Match in the Global T20 Canada.
Shakib's political career may be stalled at this point, but he has reportedly told the BCB that he is available for all of Bangladesh's World Test Championship (WTC) matches this year, against Pakistan, India, South Africa and West Indies.
Mushfiqur will also likely be available for these games but his cricketing career has led him down a different path. He doesn't have a celebrity lifestyle outside of cricket. Apart from the odd on-field incident, he has conducted himself well in almost every situation, making him the model professional for young cricketers. He has played 88 Tests, so remaining fit for the next couple of years, at least, will be top of his agenda. He is in line to become the first Bangladeshi to play 100 Tests in a T20 era.
As for Shakib, he shows the way for Bangladesh youngsters who dream of becoming superstars. There is a misconception that things just happen for Shakib and that he doesn't work hard enough. In a recent interview, his long-time mentor Mohammad Salauddin spoke about Shakib's hard work. He spends hours in the nets honing his skills, but he is also an instinctive person. If he knows that something is working for him, Shakib doesn't repeat it in the nets. He saves it for the match.
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Shakib leaves the Rawalpindi nets after getting beaten several times. He speaks briefly to coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, before walking off, exhausted in the sapping weather. Mushfiqur continues a while longer before he takes a breather. The spinners also take a break. Soon enough though, Mushfiqur is back in the adjacent nets, facing throwdowns. He is meticulous, full of concentration, nothing out of place. This is his zone.
Mushfiqur and Shakib have played 61 Tests together. During this time, they have had the most prolific partnership for Bangladesh, averaging 43.10 in these 17 years playing together.
If the net sessions are anything to go by, they are certainly different individuals with different batting approaches. But when they come together for Bangladesh, especially in a team with mostly youngsters, their experience is priceless.