Cricket Revisited: The story of the original ‘Super Shak’

He was fondly addressed as 'Super Shak' within the cricketing fraternity, a nickname that ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is known as these days. 

Shakil Kasem aka Super Shak made his debut in the Dhaka Cricket League while still in school in 1967. He was introduced to a touring side as a 'cricketer who writes' by Syed Ashraful Haque in the 1980s. 

His compilation of those distant memories are all brought in the Cricket Revisited, published by Oitijjhya Prokashon. The launching ceremony of his book was held at Dhaka Club Limited in the city on Monday.

Cricket Revisited is a collection of memories of such events as they took place back in the days when Shakil Kasem played cricket.

A number of prominent ex-cricketers like Sazzadur Rahman Boby, Yusuf Rahman Babu, Ishtiaque Ahmed, Syed Ashraful Haque were present and reminisced their good old days in the ceremony.

"Sports literature is in terrible conditions in our country. It's a great step up by Shakil Kasem," said Ishtiaque Ahmed.

"It's up to the readers how they will treat this book. After reading the manuscripts, I would say it is more than just a cricket book, it's more literature," he added.

Shakil Kasem took the bold step to come out of the shell and write a literary piece that is more than just numbers and records. 

So why did Shakil write such a book and what exactly lies inside the book? Shakil answered himself. 

"It was a long time coming. I've been thinking about this for a while. It's a collection of all my articles and essays on cricket over the years. It goes back a couple of decades. Basically a compilation of the scattered write-ups. Through this book I tried to remember the good times during my cricketing days," Shakil Kasem told The Business Standard.

"Basically, trying to let everyone know what we went through back in those days as cricketers."

Shakil said this book was a medium of him socialising with the distant memories of his cricketing days. 

Shakil saw this opportunity to reunite with his fellow teammates through this launching ceremony. 

"The launching is not just about the book, it is also a reunion with my fellow cricketers." 

Shakil talked about how he wanted to highlight the fact that cricketers of his generation were regarded as 'problematic heroes'. 

"There was a need for us to be a hero, but we were always pushed back. We didn't have the same facilities, yet we were asked to fight against the best of the world of that time around the world," he said. 

The book is available at Oitijjhya Prokashon for 300 BDT. The writer said the publishers took a huge risk agreeing to publish this book. "It's like coming on to bat under floodlights without a helmet." 

Shakil retired from cricket in the early 90s. He started as a batsman who could bowl a bit but ended up as a bowler who could bat a bit. He was one of the early English commentators, a columnist and also a Director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.