Shakib Al Hasan has confirmed that he has not officially retired from all formats of the game. He plans to play a full ODI, Test and T20 series at home before calling it time on his career.
decision from Test and T20I cricket, stating that he has not ‘officially retired from all formats’. Shakib stated that he plans to play a full ODI, T20 and a Test series in Bangladesh before hanging up his boots.
“I am officially not retired from all formats,” Shakib said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast on Sunday. “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.”
Shakib has not returned to Bangladesh since May 2024, a few months before the Awami League government was dethroned on August 5. Shakib was into politics and was the MP of the party from his hometown in Magura.ย
On being asked whether he will return to Bangladesh, Shakib said, “I am hopeful. That’s why I’m playing [T20 leagues]. I think it will happen.”
Shakib also stated that he will not be burdened by results as he looks to “give something back to the fans”.
“I think when a player says something, they try to stick to their words,” he said. “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 they supported me always, give something back to them, playing a home series.”
Shakib has not played for Bangladesh since October 2024, when he played in a Test match against India in Kanpur. He wanted to play his final Test match against South Africa at home in October but due to the protests against him, he was replaced by Hasan Murad in the squad