Sports Desk:

Ending all speculations, ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan confirmed his availability in the last three matches of the five-match T20 International series against Zimbabwe and the two matches of Dhaka Premier League (DPL) Super League phase.

Considered as the finest ever player the country has produced, Shakib said that he indeed had discussed his involvement in the ensuing series with the head coach, the captain, and the chief selector before coming to a decision that he would play the last three matches of the series.

Beforehand, he will play the last two matches of the DPL Super League for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to ramp up his preparations.

“I had already talked about the involvement in the Zimbabwe series with the coach, captain and the chief selection. The coach (Chandika Hathurusingha) told me that playing two matches in the Zimbabwe series will be enough,” Shakib said during an event in New York on Thursday.

“I even asked him (coach) if he wanted me to play all five matches but he told me that two matches would be enough. Then I talked to captain and the chief selector but they told me that it would be better if I play three matches. I said I have no problems with it and said yes.”

Talks are doing rounds in the social media that Shakib would play three matches of Zimbabwe series and even won’t play the DPL Super League, which seemed to have annoyed the star allrounder.

“The discussion in the social media is irrelevant. It’s not up to me that how many matches I will play. Such decision is always taken through discussion with the team management,” he said.

“There are two scheduled DPL matches before the last three T20 against Zimbabwe and so I will play those matches to have perfect preparations for the series,” he added.

Zimbabwe is set to arrive on today. The first three matches of the series will be held at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram before the action shifts to the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka which will host the last two games.