Bangladesh sports advisor won't 'allow Shakib to wear the Bangladesh jersey' again

Shakib Al Hasan will not play for Bangladesh again, the country's sports advisor Asif Mahmud has declared, after the cricketer put up a social media post on Sunday wishing deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on her birthday.

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."

There were more messages out in public, before Asif spoke to the Dhaka-based Channel 24, saying he would instruct the BCB not to select Shakib again. He said that Shakib was "intricately involved with Awami League's politics".

"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 had known 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."

Shakib was an Awami League member of parliament from January to August last year before the government was ousted in a student-led revolution. Hasina fled to India on August 5, while Shakib, who was not in the country at the time, hasn't returned home. He played Tests against Pakistan and India last year, but has not been picked in the national team in the last 12 months even as he has continued to play in franchise leagues elsewhere.