Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has announced that he is no longer retired from international cricket. He has reversed his retirement from Test and T20I formats. He now plans to play in all three formats again. Shakib had been away from international cricket for more than a year. He had earlier retired from Tests and T20Is last year.
Shakib has not returned to Bangladesh since May 2024. This followed the fall of the Awami League government on August 5. Shakib had served as a Member of Parliament for the party. He was later named in an FIR linked to an alleged murder case. He was not in the country at that time. After these events, he played Test series in Pakistan and India. His last international match was the second Test against India in Kanpur.
Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, Shakib Al Hasan made his intentions clear. He said, “I am officially not retired from all formats. This is the first time I’ll be revealing that. 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,” said Shakib.
Shakib Al Hasan Wants to Thank Fans with a Final Home Series
Shakib said that match results will not matter to him. His main goal is to give back to the fans. He especially wants to do it in a home series. He said, “I am hopeful. That’s why I’m playing [T20 leagues]. I think it will happen. 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 have supported me always, give something back to them, playing a home series,” said Shakib.
Earlier, Shakib had announced he would not play T20Is again. He also wanted his final Test to be a home match against South Africa. That series never happened due to protests near the Dhaka stadium. The BCB later dropped him from the Test squad citing safety issues. This year, he was told he is welcome to return. But later officials said he would not be allowed to play after his political comments.
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Shakib also spoke about his political future. He said, ”[I have] done my cricketing part. Maybe the political side is left. It’s something I want to do for the people of Bangladesh and people of Magura. That was my intention, and it is still my intention. Let’s see where Allah takes me,” said Shakib.
