Retiring Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan says he doubts he can return to his homeland because of “a security issue”, meaning he is set to miss out on a final Test series.
The 37-year-old announced his retirement from international cricket last month but was named in the Tigers squad to face South Africa in two Tests, the first of which starts on 21 October.
However, Shakib is also a former member of parliament and an ex-lawmaker in the government that was ousted by protesters in August, and he has been discouraged from returning to the country because of public anger.
“I was to return home… but now I don’t think I can,” Shakib told broadcaster bdnews24.com.
“It is over a security issue, a matter of my own security.”
Shakib is considered one of his country’s greatest sportsmen, with 4,609 runs in 71 Test matches.
As a spin bowler, he holds the record for most Test wickets in Bangladesh’s history with 246.
In January, he became an MP for the then-ruling Awami League party, whose former leader Sheikh Hasina fled the country in August.
Shakib is among dozens from Hasina’s party facing murder investigations following a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.
Shakib apologised in a Facebook post earlier this month for remaining silent during the revolution.
However, Asif Mahmud, who heads the sports ministry, said that “recent protests suggest it wasn’t enough” and that to avoid “unwanted incidents” he had advised Shakib not to return.
“This decision was made to ensure the safety of players and to protect the country’s image,” Mahmud added in a statement.
Bangladeshi media said Shakib was in Dubai but would be heading to the United States.
Shakib was playing in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada when the regime collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since. He toured Pakistan and India with the Bangladesh team.
The first Test against South Africa in Mirpur, near the capital Dhaka, will be the first international cricket fixture in Bangladesh since crowds stormed Sheikh Hasina’s palace.
More than 700 people were killed in the unrest, according to Bangladesh’s health ministry.
The second Test will be played in the port city of Chittagong, also called Chattogram, beginning on 29 October.
