New Bangladesh sports minister wants to fast track cases against Shakib and Mortaza

Bangladesh's new sports minister Aminul Haque has said that the government will fast track the procedures in the cases against Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza so that the two former Awami League members of parliament can return to cricket swiftly.

Haque, a former Bangladesh football captain, is among 49 new central and state ministers appointed on Tuesday after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power by winning the general elections held on February 12. Haque said that the new government would be "tolerant and flexible" on the former Bangladesh captains against whom several cases were filed after the Awami League government fell in 2024.

"The government will deal with the matter concerning Shakib and Mashrafe. We will remain tolerant and flexible on them," Haque said. "The cases against them will be handled by the government. We want Shakib to return [to Bangladesh]. We hope those will be resolved swiftly so they can return. We also want Shakib and Mashrafe back in Bangladesh cricket."

Shakib hasn't been back in Bangladesh since May 2024 - he is based in the USA for the past few years. Though he hasn't played for Bangladesh since October 2024, he has been in action in franchise T20 leagues, including the PSL and the CPL. During a recent interview to the Beard Before Wicket podcast, Shakib announced that he had reversed his decision to retire from international cricket. He said that he wanted to retire after playing a full international series, though he didn't put a timeline to it.

"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," he had said in December last year. "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."

Mashrafe, meanwhile, has been out of the public eye since August 2024, with very little known about his whereabouts. He was still playing in the Dhaka Premier League in 2024 despite playing his last international match in 2020. Mashrafe was serving his second term as an Awami League MP when the government was overthrown by a revolution led by students in August that year.

On the subject of the BCB elections held last year, Haque said the proceedings were "questionable". Haque was reportedly backing the Tamim Iqbal-led alliance, which pulled out of the race citing corruption and unfair practices at the time.

"I have said it before and I will say it again: it was a questionable election of the BCB," Haque said. "But since I am now in a responsible position, I will sit down with them and discuss how we can move to a better stage."

His predecessor as BCB president, Aminul Islam, has reportedly left the country last week.