Dhaka wakes up on Tuesday to a silent celebration for a man who once made the city roar. Shakib Al Hasan turns 39 this March 24, yet the greatest cricketer to ever wear the green and red jersey remains a ghost in his own dressing room. He finds himself frozen out of the national setup, a victim of shifting political tides and a board that finally decided the headache outweighed the genius.
His journey from the dusty streets of Magura to the peak of international cricket remains the stuff of subcontinent folklore. He did not simply arrive; he erupted. After making a quiet debut against Zimbabwe in 2006, he spent two years as a “batter who bowled a bit” before a transformative Test against New Zealand in 2008. Those seven wickets for 36 runs in Chittagong did more than win a match; they revealed a world-class operator capable of dismantling any batting order on the planet.
The ascent to the summit happened with terrifying speed. On September 21, 2009, a 22-year-old Shakib became the top-ranked ODI all-rounder in the world, a mantle he refused to surrender for the better part of a decade. He followed this by seizing the Test crown in 2011, eventually becoming the only man in history to hold the number one spot in all three formats simultaneously by early 2015. He didn’t just play the game; he owned the statistics.
No moment defined his brilliance more than the 2019 World Cup in England. He played a different sport to everyone else, amassing 606 runs and 11 wickets in a display of sheer individual dominance. He looked like a man possessed, dragging his teammates through the mud of mediocrity to prove that a small cricketing nation could produce a giant. It was the peak of his powers, a masterclass of left-arm guile and clinical batting that few players in history could ever hope to replicate.
But the higher the rise, the more devastating the fall. His decision to enter the political arena as a Member of Parliament for the now-deposed Awami League turned a sporting hero into a divisive figure. It all started after his ban from cricket after the allegations of hiding a corruption-offer in 2020. He never gained his form back since then. Following the political upheavals of late 2024 and early 2025, security concerns and legal entanglements effectively barred him from returning to his homeland. The board speaks of “logistical hurdles” and “safety protocols,” but everyone in the Mirpur stands knows the score: he is currently too radioactive for the national brand.
He spent the start of 2026 turning out for MI Emirates in the UAE, proving the hands still work and the eyes still see. Yet, as Bangladesh prepares for their next international cycle, the name Shakib Al Hasan remains conspicuously absent from the team sheets. He remains trapped in a standoff between a board that fears the optics of his return and a player who refuses to crawl back on bended knee.
Rumours of a one-off farewell match continue to circulate, yet Shakib’s camp remains tight-lipped about a return to the fold before the year ends.
Even on his birthday, his former teammate and the Bangladesh legend Mushfiqur Rahim’s Facebook post said, “Like the people of the country, as a brother I also want your playing career to end on home soil. Happy birthday, Shakib… Bangladesh’s Shakib. You will always have my prayers, brother.”
Bangladesh Cricket Board’s director Asif Akbar celebrated the occasion by cutting a cake with Shakib Al Hasan himself. Earlier, Asif expressed his wish to bring Shakib Al Hasan back into the Bangladesh team. In February, speaking to the Daily Times of Bangladesh, former Bangladesh batter and current batting coach Mohammad Ashraful said, “If he focuses on a particular format, especially ODIs, a proper comeback is still possible.”
Shakib remains too proud to beg and the board remains too stubborn to blink. The cricket world moves on, but the hole he leaves in Bangladesh remains a cavernous reminder of what happens when a nation’s greatest asset becomes its biggest liability. Do not expect a sentimental farewell at the Shere-e-Bangla; this story looks destined to end in a quiet, franchise-funded sunset rather than a final roar at home.
