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"Officially not retired": Shakib Al Hasan finally opens up about his plan with Bangladesh

Rajgeeta Yadav

Shakib Al Hasan reverses retirement [Source: AFP]Shakib Al Hasan reverses retirement [Source: AFP]

Bangladesh star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has changed his mind about retiring from Test and T20I cricket. After previously announcing he was done with those two formats, Shakib now says he wants to return and play one final series in all three formats, Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, before he officially ends his international career.

Shakib Al Hasan wants one last full series before goodbye

Shakib revealed this while speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast. He said this is the first time he is publicly confirming that he is not retired after all. He said, 

"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," Shakib said, as per ESPNcricinfo.

Notably, Shakib has been away from Bangladesh for more than a year. He has not gone back since May 2024, after the change in government on August 5. 

Shakib was a Member of Parliament for the previous ruling party, his name was included in a police case related to an alleged murder, even though he wasn’t in the country when the incident happened. Despite this, he continued playing cricket abroad. His most recent international match was the second Test against India in Kanpur, last year.

When asked if he plans to return to Bangladesh, Shakib said he is hopeful and believes things will work out. He has been playing in various T20 leagues to stay active and ready.

For Shakib, this final home series is not about performance. He says it doesn’t matter if he plays well or poorly, he just wants to give fans a proper farewell after supporting him for so many years. 

"I think when a player says something, they try to stick to their words. 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 concluded.

It is worth mentioning that Shakib is widely considered one of the greatest all-rounders in modern cricket. His career numbers back it up: 246 wickets and over 4, 600 runs in Tests, more than 7,500 runs and 317 wickets in ODIs, plus strong performances in T20Is with 149 wickets and over 2, 500 runs.