Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who has garnered public for various reasons ranging from on-field heroics to arguments with umpire, has once again landed in hot water after admitting of deliberately bowling with illegal action in England’s county cricket.
“For Surrey I bowled more than 70 overs in the match, which I had never done before. I was very tired after bowling long [spells].”
“I think I deliberately bowled with some illegal action,” Shakib said while speaking on YouTube’s “Beard Before Wicket” podcast while referring to Surrey’s match against Somerset in Taunton as reported by the ESPNcricinfo.
The all-rounder’s statement is to be taken against the backdrop of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to clear his bowling action, suspected of being illegal, back in March 2025
Before this, in December 2024, Shakib was suspended from bowling in all competitions organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for exceeding the maximum permitted elbow extension of 15 degrees.
Expanding on the circumstances behind the Surrey match, Shakib said that he participated in Test series against Pakistan after which he moved to four-day cricket.
“I was thinking that the umpire would give a warning, but he reported according to the law.
“I also remained silent when I was reported [for suspected illegal action],” Shakib remarked, recalling that he initially failed the bowling action test but managed to clear it later.
Furthermore, making another interesting revelation, the cricket said that he was not retired from any of the three formats and in fact intends to play ODI, Test and T20I series and then bid farewell to the game.
“I am officially not retired from all formats. This is the first time I’ll be revealing that. My plan is to go back to Bangladesh, play one full series of ODI, Test, and T20, and retire.
“I mean, [I can] retire from all formats in a series. So it can start from T20I, ODI and Test, or Test, ODI, T20I. Either way, I’m fine, but I want to play a whole series and retire. That’s what I want,” he noted while speaking on the podcast.
This apparent reversal of retirement comes in contrast with his announcement made in September 2024, where he said that he would soon retire from international cricket but hoped to play at least one more match back home first.
Shakib had been the driving force of the Bangladesh team’s rise to become serious international contenders, enthralling fans through both star turns and scandals.
He remains the only player to have topped the International Cricket Council all-rounder rankings in all three formats simultaneously.
Shakib left the country after the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina-led government last year.
The all-rounder had been a member of parliament for the Awami League led by Hasina, whose 15-year rule as prime minister ended following deadly protests, and since then, he has been barred from representing the country again as confirmed by Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Mahmud after the cricketer posted a birthday greeting on social media for ex-PM Hasina.
He has represented Bangladesh in 70 Tests, 247 ODIs and 129 T20 matches since his international debut in 2006.
— With additional input from Reuters
