Sipu Jha
NEW DELHI: Former Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib al Hasan has withdrawn his retirement from Test and T20I formats, expressing his intention to play across all three formats before officially ending his international career. This update follows his retirement announcement in September 2024 and his subsequent absence from Bangladesh after the fall of the Awami League government, which has left him unable to return due to security concerns.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Shakib, who previously served as a Member of Parliament, has been out of international cricket for more than a year and is currently active in franchise leagues to maintain form and fitness.
“I am hopeful to return to Bangladesh and that’s why I am playing and I think it will happen and that’s the reason, the only reason I am playing to stay fit and stay in shape so that I can make me available for international cricket,” Shakib said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast with Moeen Ali.“I am officially not retired from all formats. This is the first time I’ll be revealing that,” he continued. “My plan is to go back to Bangladesh, play one full series of ODI, Test, and T20, and retire. I mean, [I can] retire from all formats in a series. So it can start from T20I, ODI and Test, or Test, ODI, T20I. Either way, I’m fine, but I want to play a whole series and retire. That’s what I want.”Shakib reiterated that he intends to stand by this plan, saying, “I think when a player says something they try to stick to their words. They normally don’t change it all of a sudden. It doesn’t matter if I play well or not. I might play a bad series after that, if I want to play. But I don’t need to do that.”“I think this is enough. It’s just a nicer way to say bye to the fans that they supported me always, give something back to them, playing a home series,” he added.In September 2024, Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Mahmud had announced a ban on Shakib from representing the country after he extended birthday wishes to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. His last Test outings came in 2024 against Pakistan and India.During his county stint with Surrey last year, Shakib was reported for a suspect bowling action and later suspended. He admitted he had deliberately bowled with an illegal action due to fatigue from excessive overs.“I think I was doing it a little bit intentionally because I bowled more than 70 overs [in one match], I never bowled 70 overs in my career in a Test match. I was playing that four-day match for Surrey against Somerset in Taunton. I was so tired. I played back-to-back Test matches in Pakistan. We won that series and then I went to play those four-day matches. The only thing I was thinking the umpire could have done was just warn me first, at least. But it is in the rules, so they had the right. I didn’t complain,” he said.Reflecting on the test process, he added, “I went to do the test, I failed. And then I saw my test. I was like, ‘okay, so these things are happening’. Then I had to train for a couple of weeks so I went back to Surrey again and they were kind enough to help me. I did two sessions and I was back to normal. I was like, ‘it’s so easy’.”Cleared to bowl again after initially failing the assessment, Shakib continues to feature in franchise cricket as he awaits a chance to return to the Bangladesh national team and retire on his own terms.
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