The Proteas’ chances of winning a first Test series in Bangladesh in 16 years received a significant boost on Friday when the home team suffered the withdrawal of veteran all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan.
Former captain Shakib was due to play his final Test, which is scheduled to start on Monday, in his hometown of Dhaka, but due to concerns surrounding his safety he will no longer travel to Bangladesh.
Shakib has lived in the United States of America for a number of years already, and joined the Bangladesh team directly on recent tours to India and Sri Lanka without setting foot in his homeland.
This is primarily due to Shakib, a former MP and member of Awami League political party, being accused of being involved in the murder of a student during the Bangladesh protests in July, which led to several hundreds of deaths.
The protests eventually led to the fall of the longstanding Awami League-led government of Sheikh Hasina on August 5.
Formerly Bangladesh’s most beloved cricketer, Shakib, who was playing in a T20 tournament in Canada at the time, issued a statement earlier this week apologising “To those of you who were hurt by my silence” and wished to bid farewell to the game without any incident.
However, Asif Mahmud, the Youth and Sports adviser, has advised Shakib not to travel to Bangladesh in fear of another uprising, which has prompted the Bangladesh Cricket Board to withdraw the 37-year-old from the Test series and call up rookie 23-year-old left-arm spinner Hasan Murad.
The Bangladeshi camp has been bereft with turmoil building up to this all-important Test series for both teams.
The BCB were forced into firing former coach Chandika Hathurusingha also last week after Hathurusingha, who had been in charge since January 2023, was accused of assaulting a player during last year’s World Cup in India.
Former West Indies T20 World Cup-winning coach Phil Simmons has replaced Hathurusingha on an interim basis.
“I was actually surprised to bump into Phil Simmons in Dubai on the way here,” said Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince. “It was nice to see him and he was on the same flight as us to come and take over the head coach’s role here.”
Prince has intimate knowledge of the chaos that is Bangladesh cricket after spending seven months as the Asian nation’s batting coach.
While admitting that Shakib’s absence is undoubtedly a blow to the Tigers, he feels that it is in these moments they are arguably at their most dangerous. “Shakib’s (absence) will have an effect on the dressing room … but it’s not the first time there’s been uncertainty around Shakib.
“It’s nothing new for them.”
