Dhaka: The Bangladesh Cricket Board, on Tuesday, allowed Shakib Al Hasan to continue playing for Bangladesh until proven guilty as the veteran all-rounder faces a case of murder during the Bangladesh unrest. BCB’s decision came after the board was asked for the immediate removal of Shakib from all forms of cricket by the lawyers of Rafiqul Islam, the father of garment factory worker Rubel, who was killed on August 5 in Dhaka’s Adabor.
Shakib was named in a First Information Report (FIR) along with 146 others during the unrest in Bangladesh that toppled the government earlier this month. Following the accusation, Shajib Mahmood Alam, a lawyer of the Supreme Court, mailed a legal notice to BCB last week asking the board to take immediate action against Shakib by banning him from international cricket. BCB, in response, stated that they would decide on the former captain’s fate after the end of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
According to the notice, obtained by Cricbuzz, Shakib, who is accused in a criminal case, should be removed from the national team based on the ICC rule. It also added that 37-year-old should be brought back to Bangladesh immediately to begin the investigation process.
“He [Shakib] will continue playing. We received a legal notice regarding bringing him back and we replied them saying this [that he will continue to play],” BCB president Faruque Ahmed was quoted in a leading Bengali Daily Prothom Alo on Tuesday.
“Right now the FIR is filed and it is in the initial stage and there are lot of steps after this and until he is proven guilty we will make him play. The Bangladesh team will go to India after the Pakistan series and we want him in that series as well.
“He is our contracted player and if necessary we will give him legal assistance,” he added.
Shakib will not be back in Bangladesh after the end of the Pakistan Test series as the all-rounder is slated to travel to England to play a four-day match for Surrey. BCB had earlier granted him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from September 5 to 14 for the match. However, he will be back in action for Bangladesh later next month when the team takes on India in a two-Test series, followed by three T20Is.
