File photo of Shakibla Hasan© AFP
Fans of Shakib Al Hasan, a Bangladeshi politician and cricketer, on Friday gathered outside the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in the capital Dhaka to protest ahead of the home test series against South Africa. Shakib flew from the United States to join the Bangladesh team but cancelled the trip to Dhaka while he was in Dubai due to 'security concerns'. The development shocked the Shakib fans and hundreds of his supporters began gathering outside Mirpur Stadium, one of the venues of the test series that is to begin on Monday.
"I am a big fan of Shakib Al Hasan. You can not exclude Shakib from the Bangladesh team, because he is one of the best cricketers in the world. I do not believe that he did any crime as he was abroad during the movement. Why he was barred from coming home", said a fan wearing a Bangladesh jersey while hundreds of his supporters shouted "Shakib Shakib Shakib".
"Why will Shakib say goodbye to cricket from Kanpur (India)? He will say goodbye from Mirpur as he wishes", said another supporter.
The supporters see the challenges of Bangladesh cricket in the post-Shakib era.
"Without Shakib, the Bangladesh team is immobile", said a fan.
Notably, Shakib officially joined the Awami League party in 2023. He filed the nomination from the Magura-1 parliamentary seat as an Awami League candidate to contest in the 2024 Bangladesh general election, which he won.
Two months ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people. Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5 and an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed.
Awami League leaders and supporters, including Sheikh Hasina, are facing dozens of cases of allegedly committing crimes during the July-August uprising. Sakib Al Hasan is one of the accused in the cases but he wished to say cricket goodbye after the test series against South Africa. He sought security.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) responded positively and announced the team including Shakib Al Hasan. Sakib flew from the USA but he abounded home coming during a stopover in Dubai due to security concerns.
BCB announced the appointment of former West Indies batter Phil Simmons as the head coach of the national men's cricket team after suspending Chandika Hathurusinghe, due to misconduct.