SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials are still undecided about the inclusion of premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in their upcoming two-match Test series against Pakistan.

Shakib, who is currently playing in the Global T20 Canada, earlier expressed his desire to feature in the Test series -- with the first Test scheduled to begin on August 21 in Rawalpindi -- before leaving Bangladesh for the USA to take part in Major League Cricket last month.

Having been granted NOC by BCB until August 12, Shakib was expected to join the national teammates either in Bangladesh or Pakistan from Canada to prepare for the Test series.

However, Shakib, who was a lawmaker in the Awami League government that fell after a student protest on August 5, is no longer an MP following the president’s order the next day. Due to the current unrest, he is unlikely to return to Bangladesh anytime soon.

It remains unclear whether his political identity would impact his selection in the national team. According to sources, Shakib’s fitness for red-ball cricket is also a concern as he has been playing non-stop T20 matches since the home series against Zimbabwe in May.

“Before it was just about whether he [Shakib] could come to Bangladesh and then travel to Pakistan. He’s been playing cricket but in a format where he has to score quickly in short time. And even though he knows how to play longer matches, there’s a concern about whether he can handle the physical demands [of Test cricket],” a BCB official told The Daily Star yesterday.

The selectors, who were unable to contact Shakib over the past week due to unrest situation, are likely to sit with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha in one or two days regarding the matter and other issues about the squad for the Pakistan Test series before they announce their final squad.

It was learned from another source that BCB has already formed an 18-member preliminary squad with Shakib and pacer Taskin Ahmed being in the team, but the final 15-member squad will be decided after the meeting with all the members of the selection panel, which had to be deferred a few times due to the current unrest situation.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Cricket Operation In-charge Shahriar Nafees informed that Shakib’s inclusion in the Test squad depends both on his availability and selection.

“He is only a cricketer now,” Nafees told reporters in Mirpur. “There is a question of whether he is available for the series now, and another being whether he gets picked for the tour. We will run our activity keeping these two factors in mind,” he concluded.