DHAKA: A Bangladeshi court issued an arrest warrant on Sunday for cricket star Shakib Al Hasan for bounced cheques totalling more than $300,000, in the latest blow for the ousted lawmaker.

“The court has previously summoned Shakib but he did not appear at the court”, said Mohammed Shahibur Rahman from the IFIC Bank, which filed the case. “Now, the court has issued the warrant,” he said.

Shakib is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, who was overthrown by revolution and fled by helicopter to India in August 2024.

His links to Hasina made him a target of public anger and he was among dozens facing murder investigations for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.

He has not been charged over those allegations.

Shakib was playing in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada when Hasina’s government collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since.

The left-arm all-rounder has played 71 Tests, 247 One-day Internationals and 129 Twenty20s for Bangladesh, taking a combined 712 wickets.

However, he was left out of the 15-man squad for the ODI tournament in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai next month.

Najmul Hossain Shanto will captain the side, with Bangladesh placed in Group ‘A’ alongside India, Pakistan and New Zealand.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2025