The dilemma surrounding Shakib's farewell test continues

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's desire to play his farewell Test on home soil suffered a major blow yesterday when he was left out of the 15-man squad for the first Test against South Africa, scheduled to begin on October 21 in Mirpur .

After a dramatic Thursday in which Shakib decided not to board a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Bangladesh for security reasons, youth and sports advisor Asif Mahmud revealed later in the day that he had advised the cricket board to remove Shakib for public reasons To stave off anger at the return, the selectors dropped the all-rounder yesterday and brought in the uncapped left-arm spinner Hasan Murad.

“We have been informed that Shakib is not available for the first Test. He has come to the end of his Test career but despite his experience, we still do not have a replacement for him of this caliber who can handle both bat and ball,” the chairman was quoted as saying by national selection committee Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu in a media release yesterday .

Although it is certain that Shakib will not feature in the Mirpur Test, the saga is not letting up on social media, news portals or even on the streets.

As many as 80 to 90 Shakib fans gathered at the main entrance of the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium yesterday lunchtime with banners, demanding Shakib's safe return to the country to play his farewell Test and also demanding that he stop mob violence to promote the 37-year-old against him.

Shakib's childhood coach Mohammad Salahuddin expressed sadness at how the situation is unfolding and said he deserves a chance at redemption as he has already apologized for his silence during the student-led popular movement in July and August.

“I have never felt so much anger and sadness towards the people of the country as I do today. As humans, don’t we all make mistakes? If someone repents, they should be given another chance,” Salahuddin wrote on Facebook yesterday.

“Today they (Shakib and Mashrafe) are enemies just because they did not give status on social media… They never harmed anyone, only helped people. They are not murderers,” he added.

Meanwhile, another childhood coach of Shakib's Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who is now the director of cricket board, refused to comment on the issue at a press conference in Mirpur yesterday.

Legal advisor Asif Nazrul said public anger against the all-rounder was not unjustified.

“There has never been a player like Shakib in the history of Bangladesh,” Asif Nazrul said in a broadcast on the private television channel Channel I. “He could have become the most popular man in the history of Bangladesh if he had aligned himself with a fascist government “,” he said.

“I just can't believe it… When people were being killed, when people were crying, angry and suffering everywhere, he posted that he was 'enjoying life' – I don't know where. “How could a human being do that?” he said, referring to a social media post made by Shakib's wife during the protests in Toronto, Canada.

“I feel for him, but the anger against him doesn’t feel unjustified.”