Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan will contest the country's 12th parliamentary elections after he received confirmation of his nomination from the ruling Awami League. He will be contesting from the Magura-1 constituency, his home district, with the polls scheduled for January 7.
Shakib is currently recovering from a finger injury he sustained during the World Cup match against Sri Lanka on November 6. It is unclear yet when he will return to the field.
After the two home Tests against New Zealand from November 28 to December 10, Bangladesh will tour New Zealand from December 11 to 31 for six white-ball matches. Shakib had declared before the World Cup that he wouldn't continue as the ODI captain but he remains the T20I leader, so whether he will travel to New Zealand in the business end of his first political campaign is a big question. The three T20Is will be played from December 27 to 31 and with the next T20 World Cup in June 2024, teams have already started shifting focus to their T20 plans.
Shakib follows Mashrafe Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain who became an MP during the previous elections, from Narail. Mashrafe got the nomination again this year and even though he was involved in community activities in his hometown for many years, Shakib has never really ventured into this sphere of public life.
The crossover between cricket and politics is, however, getting thicker in Bangladesh. Apart from Shakib and Mashrafe, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan has been an MP since 2009. He got the nomination once again from his Kishoreganj constituency. The BCB director Shafiul Alam Chowdhury also got nomination for the Moulvibazar seat. Former Bangladesh captain Naimur Rahman, who was an incumbent MP, failed to secure the Manikganj seat for the upcoming elections.
Among international cricketers, it is also quite rare for active players to enter politics. Before Shakib and Mashrafe, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya ran for public office in the 2010 general elections.