Shakib Al Hasan to play Test series against South Africa: BCB President

Star Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, who had earlier decided to not take part in Bangladesh’s upcoming Test series vs South Africa, would now be featuring in the said series. Notably, Hasan’s initial call to not play was due to an expected assignment at the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League. However, since the 34-year-old went unsold at the IPL mega auction held last month, he is now available for national duty.

Commenting on the same was Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan who stated that the senior cricketer was previously expected to miss both the series against South Africa and Sri Lanka, however, with him not going to the IPL now, there should not be any reason for him to not play both the Test series. He also went on to add that he sees no problem with a player opting out of playing a particular format till the time they are duly informing him of the decision.

“Shakib gave us a letter saying that he wants a six-month break from Tests. When we asked him, he said that he will miss Tests against South Africa and Sri Lanka because of the IPL. I replied that you have to play against Sri Lanka, to which he agreed. Now that he is not going to the IPL, I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t play the Test series in South Africa. So forget about it. This is no longer in my mind. The IPL was preventing him from playing [the two-Test series], but now he will play [both series],” said Nazmul Hassan as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

“Any player can refuse to play any format. I have no problem with that. But they have to tell me. He told me [that he doesn’t want to play Tests against South Africa and Sri Lanka] due to the IPL. Now that it (participation in the IPL) is not happening, I don’t see any other option,” he added.

The BCB is not an organization where we consider players as mere employees: BCB Chairman

Another one of the BCB administrators, cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus, also reiterated that the players are not treated as employees and have the full freedom to decide what games they want to play and or not play as they are not expected to play every match for the national team.

“Nobody is bound to play every match. The BCB is not an organization where we consider players as mere employees. They are also stakeholders. They have the freedom to discuss how many matches they want to play,” said Jalal Yunus.

Notably, the left-handed batter in January pulled out of the Test series against New Zealand citing personal reasons. He had previously also skipped the Sri Lanka Tests last year to feature in the IPL apart from missing the South Africa tour in 2017-18 due to the same reason. The former Bangladesh captain recently played in a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan which his team won 2-1. The Bangladesh vs South Africa Test series commences March 31st in Durban.