South Africa set for historic series, with or without the Shakib Al Hasan

South Africa set for historic series, with or without the Shakib Al Hasan 

To South Africa will go the honor of playing the principal international matches in Bangladesh since the fall of the loathed government drove by Sheik Hasina. CSA confirmed on Monday that they had approved two men's Tests in Dhaka and Chattogram starting one month from now. Thereby hangs a context zeroed in on no less a figure than Shakib Al Hasan.

Shakib will go to USA from India, will he come to Bangladesh?

Hasina's increasingly autocratic rule as Bangladesh's head of the state finished in chaos on August 5, when she escaped the country in the wake of long stretches of fights against work reservation for descendants of veterans of the liberation war battled against Pakistan from March to December 1971. Many protestors are estimated to have been killed and thousands more injured in brutal savagery by police and groups loyal to Hasina.

How was Shakib's decision to retire from Tests?

Shakib is Bangladesh's greatest and most prominent player, and consequently the focal point of millions of his compatriots' obsession with the game. He is his nation's leading wicket-taker in all three formats, and their highest runscorer in T20Is and the third-highest in Tests and ODIs. He is Bangladesh's second most capped player in all three formats.

BCB will not take responsibility for Shakib's security

In any case, Shakib isn't only a cricketer. In November 2023, he joined Hasina's party, Awami League (AL), and won a seat in parliament in the elections held in January. More awful, for many Bangladeshis, was that he said nothing freely while protestors were being attacked and killed.

Last month, Hasina and Shakib were among 147 individuals charged in connection with the homicide of a protestor, garment worker Mohammed Rubel, who was shot in Dhaka on August 5. He kicked the bucket two days later. The Daily Star announced that the case, which was opened by Rubel's father, Rafiqul Islam, argues that "a portion of the accused according to instruction straightforwardly or indirectly from some others started shooting while many understudies including Rubel were protesting".

Did Shakib's twenty whistle stop here?

Shakib was named despite the fact that on August 5 he was in Brampton playing for Mississauga Panthers against Surrey Jaguars in the Global T20 Canada. His latest match in Bangladesh was a T20I against Zimbabwe in Dhaka on May 12. Will that be the last time he is in action for his national team at home?

He announced his retirement from T20Is on Thursday, when he also said he will quit ODIs after the Champions Prize in Pakistan in February and March one year from now. Bangladesh at present have no ODIs scheduled at home. Which brings us to the Test series against South Africa.

Shakib said on Thursday he might want to play his last game in the format in the primary match of the elastic, at Mirpur in Dhaka from October 21 to 25, before moving permanently to the United States. Yet, mindful that his already adoring public have turned on him, he has looked for assurances from the new, anti-AL government that he would be safe. "Going back to Bangladesh isn't a concern, yet leaving Bangladesh once I go there is dangerous," Shakib told a public interview.

The authorities have said he would be as secure as any other national player, however they have also called on him to make clear where he stands politically. That isn't a guarantee. Shakib could well think he will be safeguarded as a cricketer however not as a politician. And that may be sufficient to dissuade him from taking the gamble of playing.

There probably won't actually have been a series to play in Bangladesh because of the disrupted political situation in the country. That is, until a CSA release on Monday said: "A security assessment was as of late conducted by CSA's operations manager, team security manager, safety and security consultant, and a representative of the South African Cricketers' Association. CSA has tried the series out ahead based on the recommendations made by the team post an in-crazy inspection visit to Bangladesh."

Asked during a question and answer session on Monday what he made of the Mirpur Test marking the finish of Shakib's career in the format, South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said: "Players close down, so we're utilized to the excitement around that. This is the reason we play international cricket, because there are subplots and stories to go with the main occasion. That makes it significantly really exciting and challenging. They want to send him out on a high, and he'd want to go out on a high. We're there to indulge the party for them."

It appears to be Shakib's party could already have been spoilt, if the mind-set music in Bangladesh is to be taken genuinely. If that is thus, the Kanpur Test, which will end on Tuesday, could be his last.