Rumors have been circulating since Tuesday night that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is giving clearance to Shakib Al Hasan to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the T20 series against Ireland.
These rumors first spread through social media and later extended to a section of the press. When questioned about this, Jalal Yunus, the head of the Cricket Operations Committee, initially refused to comment on the matter but later confirmed that the BCB has not given a no-objection letter (NOC) to either Shakib or Liton for the IPL. The BCB has only given a NOC to Mustafiz because he doesn’t play Tests.
It is unclear whether Shakib and Liton will have to play in the Dhaka Test on April 4-8 against Ireland. Jalal did not provide a direct answer, stating that the public will know when the Test team is announced. Shakib and Liton want clearance to play in the entire IPL, which starts on March 31. In addition to the Test in Dhaka during the IPL, Bangladesh also has a three-ODI tour against Ireland in England at the beginning of May.
The BCB informed the IPL authorities before the draft, and the BCB president, Nazmul Hasan, expressed his firm position regarding Shakib’s playing for the country at this time. But since Tuesday, the possibility of BCB being flexible in this matter started spreading. But till now there is no possibility of changing their position, said Jalal, “Our position is the same. I don’t see any possibility of changing it till now.”
