DHAKA: The Bangladesh government said on Friday former star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan had no prospect of returning to play after he joined a media event with ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

But Shakib said in a statement he is ready to return from a two-year exile, face trial on charges including murder and play a farewell series if the government guarantees his safety. A former lawmaker for Hasina’s Awami League, the cricketer has been living in the United States since her government was toppled two years ago.

“If I get the clearance from the government that my security will be ensured, I am happy to go back, face the court trial and everything that’s needed to be done,” Shakib said by phone from Sri Lanka, where he is playing franchise cricket.

“I know I haven’t done anything,” he said, giving the most detailed account yet of his two years abroad.

Shakib joined Hasina’s media event by telephone in New Delhi on Wednesday, where the former premier addressed journalists, two years after she was forced from power following a deadly crackdown on student-led protests.

Bangladesh’s Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque said the government had previously taken a more open approach towards Shakib, who was a lawmaker for the former ruling Awami League.

Shakib, who is currently in Sri Lanka, was among dozens facing murder investigations for a deadly police crackdown on protesters that toppled Hasina’s government on Aug 5, 2024.

“We had been looking at the matter with considerable flexibility and tolerance. After this, I do not think there is any room to think that way anymore,” Haque said in a statement.

“Someone who has taken the stage with the autocrat no longer has any opportunity to return.”

Shakib, 39, is Bangladesh’s most successful cricketer and one of the country’s best-known sporting figures. He has played more than 400 international matches and represented Bangladesh at five World Cups.

Rights groups have long accused Hasina’s former administration of abuses, including the murder of rivals, suppression of opposition parties, rigged courts and one-sided elections.

A court in Dhaka found Hasina guilty in absentia in November of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to be hanged. She remains in hiding in India.

All-rounder Shakib announced his retirement plans in Sept 2024 after his team’s second Test in India, but later said he would play a full series before calling it quits.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board said in January he could play again, but his involvement in the event in India sparked anger.

Wider fallout

The former Bangladeshi captain’s case highlights the wider fallout from Hasina’s ouster, which has left scores of her allies facing criminal charges and unable to return to Bangladesh. His return would test whether Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s government will accommodate figures from the former ruling party _ an open question as Hasina herself has announced plans to go back in December despite having been given a death sentence there.

Shakib said he wanted to go home immediately, but failing that would try to return alongside her.

“Whatever the captain says, we follow her,” he said. “I think they will decide it better, and we will follow the instructions given to us.”

Hasina, who has been living in India, was sentenced to death in absentia over the crackdown on the Bangladesh protests that killed about 1,400 people, according to the United Nations.

Shakib defended his virtual appearance at the Delhi press conference, after which his unoccupied house in Bangladesh was attacked, saying he had called only for peace and had no regrets.

He said he had written, through a lawyer, to the Bangladeshi interior, law and sports ministries under the previous interim government as well as to the police, seeking to have what he described as fabricated charges against him dropped, but had no response. Shakib said he was keen to talk to Prime Minister Rahman about returning.

Return midway from Dubai

On one occasion in late 2024, Shakib said he boarded a flight home on assurances from the interim government that he would be given security. He called officials from the airport lounge to confirm he was travelling, then was told mid-journey to turn back.

He landed in Dubai and returned to New York, where he lives on Long Island with his wife and three children. “I don’t know what changed in 12 hours,” he said, adding that the trip had been arranged over the previous five to seven days.

A later return plan collapsed after he posted a birthday message for Hasina on social media.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026