Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the Bangladesh Test squad after being out of action for a year in the longest format.
Former captain Shakib has been picked for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram, starting March 30. He last played a Test in April 2023 before an eye condition kept him away from Tests although he has played white-ball cricket during this period, including at the ODI World Cup late last year. More recently, he has played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Rangpur Riders and in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League List A tournament for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.
Shakib comes into the squad in place of the uncapped Towhid Hridoy, who wasn’t picked in the XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which Bangladesh lost by 328 runs in Sylhet. The other change in the squad is the fast-bowling department, where Hasan Mahmud has come in for the injured Musfik Hasan, who has hurt his left ankle and will require rehab. Mahmud is also uncapped in Tests, like Musfik, but has played 39 white-ball games in international cricket.
A retinal condition in the left eye had kept Shakib out of the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. He had visited an eye specialist in Singapore at the start of the year to address the issue.
Shakib had at the time said that batting had been an issue for him because of the condition. He had pushed himself down the order for Rangpur before returning to the top three in the latter stages of the BPL. He scored 255 runs in 11 innings in the BPL, striking at 158.38, and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets at an economy of 6.31. Rangpur lost to eventual winners Fortune Barishal in Qualifier 2.
Earlier this year, Shakib also joined politics, contesting the Bangladesh general elections for the Awami League party. He won from the Magura constituency and is now a member of parliament.
Before the loss in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh had won the ODI series 2-1 but lost the T20I series by the same margin.
