Sakib Al Hasan had expressed hope of playing a farewell series for the national team on home soil. But after recent political activity, that possibility has grown even slimmer. The government has said that in the current situation there is no scope for Sakib to return home and play for the national team. In an interview with Cricbuzz, Youth and Sports State Minister Aminul Haque said he did not see any possibility of Sakib returning to the national team. “There is no scope for him to return home and play,” he said.
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024 in the face of the student-people uprising, many Awami League leaders left the country. At the time, Sakib was an Awami League member of parliament. Discussion around him has flared up again recently after he took part in a virtual press conference held by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. In Aminul Haque’s view, the acceptance Sakib had as an international cricketer changed once he took a political stance.
He said: “From the position he held as a cricketer, when he stepped away and chose a political identity, I don’t think there is any scope for him to return to the country. If he returns, he will have to go through the legal process.”
The sports state minister also said that until now Sakib had mainly been considered a cricketer, but that had changed after his recent steps. “As a player, I and everyone else were very tolerant about his matter. But now I don’t think there is any scope to arrange for his return. He climbed onto the stage of autocrats and stood with them. So there is no scope for him to return home and play for the national team,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Reuters, Sakib Al Hasan said that if he received a guarantee of security from the government, he was ready to return home and face trial. He also expressed a wish to play a farewell series on home soil and to take the field for Bangladesh at the 2027 ODI World Cup.
But after the government’s latest position, new uncertainty has arisen over whether Sakib’s dream of that farewell series will come true.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report