Former Bangladesh cricketer and current chief selector, Abdur Razzak has said that such is the stature and importance of veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan that it's not viable for the BCB to overlook him despite a clamour surrounding his unavailability.
Shakib has been in the news for some time now for all the wrong reasons. This is related to the veteran all-rounder repeatedly opting out of Bangladesh's Test assignments.
Last year, he opted out of the Test series against Sri Lanka and then also missed the two-match series against New Zealand last January. In addition to this, Shakib recently requested a break from all forms of international cricket till November 2022, citing mental and physical health issues.
Amid all this, he had registered his name in the IPL mega-auction, where he went unsold. This led to BCB chief questioning Hasan's claim of suffering from mental health issues.
However, the BCB has now granted a leave to the premier all-rounder till April 10th, which rules him out of the Asian Tigers' tour of South Africa.
Razzak's statement comes a day after BCB included Shakib in the 21-member contract list.
"Shakib has not stepped away from any format yet. He is a player of such a stature that it is difficult for the board to remove him from any specific format if he does not do so on his own," said Razzak.
"Shakib's request for a six-month break [till November this year] was not official. If someone takes a leave for two series [three-match ODI series and a two-match Test series in South Africa], that doesn't mean that we can not keep him in contract for all three formats." he added.
"We did not get to talk to Shakib in detail about the matter. As we could not talk in detail, it was difficult to make any comments. Once we talk with him, we will let you know. Also, what would you have done if you were a BCB selector? Would you have kept Shakib in the team or left him out?" Said a seemingly disgruntled Razzak.
Shakib last featured for Bangladesh in the recent ODI and T20I series against Afghanistan. The veteran cricketer has represented Bangladesh in 59 Tests, 218 ODIs and 96 T20Is and is unarguably the country's greatest-ever cricketer till date.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's tour of the rainbow nation will get underway with a three-match ODI series in Centurion from March 18. The ODIs will be followed by two Test matches, starting March 31.