"Captain till WC, not a day more..": Shakib Al Hasan shares timeline on his retirement
Shakib Al Hasan has outlined his retirement plan, indicating that the 2025 Champions Trophy could potentially mark his final venture as an international cricketer. He revealed his intention to conclude his participation in T20Is following the 2024 T20 World Cup and contemplates a potential retirement from Tests subsequent to the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.
"The 2025 Champions Trophy for ODIs and the 2024 T20 World Cup for T20Is. Tests may be sooner. Maybe (after the World Cup)," Shakib said. "I will retire all at once, but I will stop playing each format one by one. I will announce my retirement after the 2025 Champions Trophy."
During an interview with T-Sports, where he voiced criticism towards Tamim Iqbal following his exclusion from Bangladesh's World Cup squad, Shakib also disclosed that he had contemplated stepping down from the captaincy shortly after his return from the Asia Cup earlier this month. However, he ultimately decided to lead the team in the World Cup after deliberations with the management.
Shakib Al Hasan reveals reason for denying captaincy
Shakib revealed that he had initially declined the captaincy for the Asia Cup as well, particularly in the wake of Tamim's resignation in early August. Nonetheless, he ultimately embraced the role, driven by his dedication for the team.
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Shakib said, "Given the current reality, I am captain only till the World Cup. Not a day more. I resigned from the captaincy on the 17th [of September]. I informed Papon bhai and emailed the CEO that I don't want to be the captain. The reasons were the same when I didn't want to captain ahead of the Asia Cup. I don't think my captaincy is adding value at this stage of my career. I wanted to just bowl my ten overs, give my best in fielding, and do my batting."
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