Shakib Al Hasan was seen biting down on a black strap, which was wrapped around his neck, while batting in the Chennai Test. Why? Well it's all part of his bid to have the correct head position while batting.
According to his mentor Mohammad Salahuddin and BCB's chief physician Dr Debashish Chowdhury, Shakib devised this mechanism himself in order to keep his head from falling over when playing the ball. He had previously worn a neck brace to correct his head position while batting.
The head-positioning problems were triggered by an eye condition, which surfaced last year. Ophthalmologists in Chennai, London, Dhaka and Singapore concluded that Shakib has Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSC), a condition in which fluid builds up under the retina, which can distort vision. Subsequently, he needed to work on positioning his head in a way that ensured optimal sighting of the ball, but without his head falling over so much that it hampered his technique. He has put in many hours of work on this since then.
"He has come up with this strap. It is completely his idea. It has not come from us. He is working on a way to hold his head position while batting," Dr Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. "He was trying to manage this with a neck brace previously, so this strap thing is also in a trial-and-error phase. He has tried it in the nets. He has done a lot of shadows [shadow batting practice] with it too."
Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp concurred, saying he has seen Shakib work with the strap in the nets. "It is something that Shakib has been using during practice at various times over the last few months," Hemp said. "He is very comfortable using the strap and feels that it assists his head position."
During an interview shoot in May this year, Shakib was seen constantly doing shadow practice in his stance. That was an effort to find out exactly which head position works best for him with the prevailing eye condition. ESPNcricinfo understands that Shakib has seen his eye specialist this past week in Chennai, who told him that his eye is improving.
"We all have one dominant eye, so when that is giving him trouble viewing the ball, then it can be problematic," Salahuddin, whom Shakib speaks to frequently about his cricketing skills, said.
When Salahuddin saw Shakib biting down on the rubber strap, he was pleased that he was trying a new method to correct his head position.
"I think it is good for him. I didn't tell him to do this. He came up with the idea, he was telling me last night on the phone. He ties it up around his neck, and biting down on it allows him to keep his neck and head steady. When the head and neck move, the eyes also move, which is not ideal for a batter."
Dr Chowdhury said that Shakib is the only one who can tell if this latest experiment is working for him. "It is personal thing from him. He will understand if it is working for him or not. I think as long as it doesn't cause a health hazard, it's fine."
Shakib's eye condition forced him to miss some matches during this year's BPL, as well as Bangladesh's white-ball matches against Sri Lanka. He returned to international cricket in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram this year, after which he played in the T20Is against Zimbabwe and USA and the 2024 T20 World Cup. He was pivotal in Bangladesh's 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan earlier this month. He also played in a County Championship match for Surrey against Somerset.
During the Chennai Test however, Shakib didn't have a huge impact with the bat and conceded over six an over in the 21 overs he bowled, with questions particularly floating around about a finger issue. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said that he felt he didn't need to use Shakib in the first innings "seeing how the three pace bowlers were doing", but backed the veteran allrounder when a question was asked at the post-match press conference about Shakib's spot in the team.
"I look at how much hard work a player is putting into his game," Shanto said. "Whether he is struggling enough to make a comeback. What is their intention towards their team. How much he is willing to give to the team.
"Some people might think that I am saying it because the question is about Shakib bhai. I try to look at everyone in the same way, whether it is Nahid Rana to Mushfiq[ur] bhai. More than whether he is scoring runs or not, I look at how is his preparation. What is his thinking about the team. I am happy with the way that every member of this Test squad has prepared and has been willing to give to the team."
On Monday, Bangladesh selector Hannan Sarkar said Shakib's finger trouble only cropped up "after he started to bowl" in Chennai, but admitted they will have to wait and watch to see if he's fit for Kanpur.
"We still have time to think about Shakib ahead of our next game. We will observe him. He was 100% fit before the Chennai Test," Sarkar said. "We have heard lots of discussions about Shakib's finger [and why he did not bowl a lot in Chennai]. You can't call it an injury straightaway. He didn't feel the problem before the match. He felt it after he started to bowl. He also got hit in the same place later in the game. That has caused some pain.
"We have time to think about it. Shakib could even play as a batter [in Kanpur]. If he feels it is affecting both his batting and bowling though, it will be a different scenario."
This article was updated after Hannan Sarkar's media briefing.