FILE PHOTO: Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 - Bangladesh v Sri Lanka - Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi, India - November 6, 2023 Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan in action REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo
(Reuters) - Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said he is almost certain he will not return home for a farewell test against South Africa next week following public anger over his silence during deadly protests in the country.
Shakib was a member of parliament for the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, whose 15-year rule as prime minister ended in August with her fleeing to India.
Shakib, 37, apologised for his silence last week and asked fans to be present for his final test at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
He has not been home since protests erupted in July but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had assured him he will not be harassed on his return for the test in Mirpur, which starts on Monday.
"I am not sure where I am going next, but it is almost sure that I am not going home," Shakib told ESPNcricinfo.
Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain had said in a press conference on Wednesday they had not received any further instructions from the BCB or the cricket operations committee.
"It is a paused status at the moment. He is in transit in Dubai," Ashraf Hossain added.
Shakib is considered the greatest cricketer Bangladesh has ever produced but his political past places the former captain in a tricky position as an interim government supervises a power transition.
Shakib announced his intention to retire from tests in September.
He played 71 tests, 247 One-Day Internationals and 129 Twenty20 Internationals, amassing 14,730 runs and claiming 712 wickets to establish himself as one of the leading all-rounders of his era.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
