Won’t ‘allow Shakib to wear the Bangladesh jersey’, says Bangladesh sports advisor ahead of Shakib’s message.
Bangladesh sports advisor won’t ‘allow Shakib to wear the Bangladesh jersey’ again.
Asif Mahmud, Bangladesh’s sports advisor, announced that cricketer Shakib Al Hasan will not be playing for his country again after the player wished deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a happy birthday on social media on Sunday.
It started with Shakib posting a simple message, to which Asif responded – though not with Shakib’s name – with: “All of you have abused me a lot for not rehabilitating one person. But I was right. End of the discussion.”
Shakib went next, posting: “So someone has finally accepted that it’s because of him that I can never put on the Bangladesh jersey again, because of whom I can’t play for Bangladesh again. Maybe I will return to my motherland one day. Love you, Bangladesh.”
After more public statements, Asif told Channel 24 in Dhaka that he would give the BCB instructions not to choose Shakib again. Shakib was “intricately involved with Awami League’s politics,” according to him.
“We cannot let him carry the Bangladesh flag,” Asif said. “It won’t be possible for me to allow him to wear the Bangladesh jersey. Maybe I haven’t told the BCB before, but now my clear direction for the BCB would be that Shakib Al Hasan can never again play for Bangladesh.
“The number of times he has asked to enter the country, to play for Bangladesh, he had said that the Awami League had given him the [2024 general election] nomination forcibly. He claimed that he was not involved in politics. He wanted to become an MP to work for the people of his area [Magura]. The truth, however, is that he is intricately involved in Awami League’s politics.”
Shakib claimed that he had wished Hasina since they knew each other before he had joined politics and that the post wasn’t intended to instigate anyone.
“She [Hasina] has always followed cricket seriously – isn’t that right,” he said. “She was deeply involved with cricket. We had a relationship through that, even before politics. I wished her from that point of view. There was no other motive, or trying to instigate anyone.”