Bangladesh Cricket Board president Faruque Ahmed has said that they will take a decision on Shakib Al Hasan's future after the ongoing Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan after the board reportedly has been sent a legal notice seeking all-rounder's removal from the national cricket team. According to a Cricbuzz report, Shakib was named in a murder case filed on Thursday (August 22) by Rafiqul Islam, the father of garment factory worker Rubel who was killed on Aug 5 in Dhaka's Adabor.
Following the accusation, Shajib Mahmood Alam, a lawyer of the Supreme Court, sent a legal notice to the BCB on Saturday through email and registered post on behalf of Advocate Md Rafinur Rahman. The lawyer asked for the removal of Shakib from all 'forms' of cricket with immediate effect.
The Cricbuzz report added that the notice conveys the fact that since star all-rounder has been named in a case, he cannot remain in the national cricket team according to the rules of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The notice also mentioned that efforts should be made to bring Shakib back to Bangladesh soon to help in advancing the investigation of the murder case. The ICC also needs to be informed about this development.
The newly appointed BCB president Faruque had a long meeting with some of his board directors at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday and said that they are yet to receive the legal notice. However, he also added they would take a call on Shakib before the second Test against Pakistan, scheduled on August 30 at Rawalpindi.
"Let me say about Shakib. A case has been lodged. We are yet to get any legal notice. FIR (first information letter) was given in the case and later there will be an investigation and following that, the case will move in one direction or the other," Faruque told reporters after the meeting.
"Look, now we are playing a Test match and it is very good news that we have played well on the fourth day. Tomorrow is the fifth day, the deciding day of the Test and I think at this point, we haven't thought about taking a stance. After tomorrow, once the game is over, we will sit and take a decision. By this time, we will also be able to say something about the legal notice as we will have received it by that time," he said.
Look, the FIR is just the first information letter and they are yet to claim any charge as far as I know, so before that, it is difficult to take a decision. The relationship between BCB and Shakib Al Hasan is like a player and an employer according to the contract. After tomorrow, we can think exactly after getting the legal notice and based on that. I cannot withdraw him from the middle of the Test match," he said.
The second Test match is from August 30, so there is a gap between the games. During this period, we can think about what can be done in this regard," he added.
Shakib is currently with the Bangladesh men’s national team in Pakistan for the ongoing Test series.