Shakib Announces Retirement from Test and T20 Cricket

Shakib Al Hasan has announced his retirement from Test and T20 cricket. He made this announcement during a press conference ahead of the Kanpur Test against India.

However, instead of the Kanpur Test, Shakib will play his final Test match in October at home against South Africa, after which he will hang up his white jersey. He already played his last T20 match during the T20 World Cup.

Shakib's Statement on Retirement

Announcing his retirement, Shakib said during the press conference, "I think I have played my last T20 match, and if I can play in the Mirpur Test (against South Africa), that will be my last Test."

This means Shakib Al Hasan's final match in the shortest format of cricket was the Super Eight game of the T20 World Cup against Afghanistan. One of the greatest stars of Bangladesh cricket bid farewell at the Arnos Vale Stadium in the Caribbean. However, Shakib would probably want to forget his performance in that final match — he was out on the first ball while batting and went wicketless, conceding 19 runs while bowling.

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Shakib made his T20 debut in 2006 against Zimbabwe at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna. He scored 26 runs and took one wicket, contributing to Bangladesh's victory. He was part of Bangladesh's first-ever T20 match and later represented the country in nine consecutive World Cups.

Shakib's Test debut came in 2007 during the Chittagong Test against India in the India series. That match ended in a draw, and Shakib got the opportunity to bat and bowl in just one innings. He scored 27 runs with the bat and remained wicketless with the ball. Seventeen years later, Shakib will play his final Test abroad, again against India.

In his long career of nearly two decades, Shakib has played 129 T20 matches, scoring 2,551 runs. With a strike rate of over 121 and an average of 23.18, he is among Bangladesh's top performers. With the ball, Shakib was the leading wicket-taker in this format for a long time on the global stage, eventually taking 149 wickets, averaging a wicket every 21 runs. He remains Bangladesh's highest run-scorer (2,551) and wicket-taker (149) in T20s.

In Test cricket, Shakib has played 70 matches so far, scoring 4,600 runs at an average of 38.33, with five centuries and 31 fifties, making him the third-highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in Tests. With the ball, he has taken 242 wickets, holding the record for the most wickets by any Bangladeshi bowler in all three formats.