Unceremonious retirement of best all-rounder Shakib Al-Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan, best all-rounder of the world

Shakib Hasan's decision not to come home and play his last test match against South Africa has created mixed reactions among cricket lovers and his fans not only in Bangladesh but also the cricket world.

The celebrated cricketer of the country had himself desired to retire from the current Test and had sought protection from the Bangladesh Cricket Board which was initially in doubt whether it would be able to ensure Shakib's security but finally agreed to provide him with that.

Meanwhile, an Adviser of the interim government commented that public anger in Bangladesh against the world-famed cricketer for joining the January 1 election with the autocratic regime despite its boycott by all credible political parties was natural.

The first Test of the Test series between Bangladesh and South Africa has began but in Shakib's absence. His fear of facing public demonstration made him to take the fateful decision not to return home to play his desired last Test. This has pained not him alone but also his fans and cricket lovers.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has added Hasan Murad to the Test squad for the first match of the two-Test series against South Africa to replace Shakib Al-Hasan while debutant Jaker Ali also joins the squad along with two others. Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainty and nothing can be said for sure before the last ball. But it can be said for sure that the absence of Shakib has weakened the team.

But Shakib has chosen for things to be like this. Had the one-sided Parliament elected on January 7 last continued to serve, Shakib would have had been with his two legs on two boats - cricket and politics. Before him Bangladesh's celebrated captain Mashrafe Mortaza joined politics and contested the 2018 elected in which votes were cast in the night before the polling. But his decision did not create much outrage because he had withdrawn from the national team.

The tragedy for Shakib is his own creation. Had he retired from cricket before joining a controversial election, the public reaction against his would have been much less. Mixing up cricket with politics is his createst mistake. He himself was not aware of a great legacy he had created in cricket to be ruined so carelessly. His coming into prominance was due to his cricketing talent that he failed to evaluate. He had many years left to do politics after ending his golden era in cricket.

Shakib you have not only failed yourself but also your fans and cricketers at large worldwide. They will remember you with a sad feeling for missing a grand departure from cricket that the world of the game would have remembered for a long long time.