The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday allowed Shakib Al Hasan to miss next month’s Test series against Sri Lanka as he can take part in the upcoming edition of the IPL.
Notably, Shakib, was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.20 crore in the 2021 mini-auction on Thursday,
“Shakib wants to play T20s at the moment,” BCB cricket operations head Akram Khan was quoted as saying by Bangladesh’s daily Prothom Alo.
“He doesn’t want to play Tests. He has asked for a leave for the IPL. We also don’t want to force someone who doesn’t want to play Tests, which is why the board has decided to grant him the leave,” he added.
Bangladesh’s Test series against Sri Lanka that was postponed twice last year due to the pandemic, is being planned in April to keep up with the ICC’s extended World Test Championship (WTC) deadline.
According to the report in Prothom Alo, Shakib has told the BCB that he wants to return to the national team for the ODIs against Sri Lanka slated for May.