Shakib Al Hasan talks about his retirement plan 


Shakib Al Hasan has hinted at his retirement, stating the 2025 Champions Trophy might be his final chapter as an international cricketer. He said he plans to hang up his boots from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Series, and could retire from red ball cricket after the forthcoming ODI World Series in India. 

"The 2025 Champions Trophy for ODIs and the 2024 T20 World Series for T20Is. Tests may be sooner. Maybe (after the World Series)," Shakib said. "I will retire all at once, but I will stop playing each format one by one. I will announce my retirement after the 2025 Champions Trophy."

Shakib in an interview with T Sports criticised Tamim Iqabl in the chain reaction of his exclusion from Bangladesh’s World Series squad, the decorated all rounder also disclosed he had almost quit the captaincy after returning from the Asia ODI Series earlier this month but continued in the position until the World Serie following discussions with the team management. 

He said he had initially turned down the captaincy role for the Asia ODI Series too, after Tamim stepped down in early August, but shouldered the responsibility thinking about the team. 

“Given the current reality, I am captain only till the World Series. Not a day more," Shakib said. "I resigned from the captaincy on the 17th [of September]. I informed Papon bhai and emailed the CEO that I don't want to be the captain. The reasons were the same when I didn't want to captain ahead of the Asia ODI Series. I don't think my captaincy is adding value at this stage of my career. I wanted to just bowl my ten overs, give my best in fielding, and do my batting.

"The easiest thing to do for me would have been not to take the captaincy. When he offered me the job, I immediately told him I don't want to do it in this situation. At this age, I didn't want to take this pressure. I want to smile, enjoy my game, and perform for Bangladesh.

"[Papon] described the situation to me. A captain has to do the job on and off the field. When I learned that the BCB, coach and team management were unanimous in their decision about me, then I took the captaincy."

In his second spell as the full time captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, Shakib has led the side only in the Asia ODI Series, where they defeated Afghanistan and India in five matches. The Tigers are currently in India for their World Series warm up matches against Sri Lanka and England on September 29 and October 2 in Guwahati respectively. They will play their opening match of the tournament against Afghanistan on October 7 in Dharamsala.