ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Shakib Al Hasan's career ends after second bowling test failure

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan's hopes of playing international cricket for one last time have taken a big hit after his bowling action was deemed illegal in an independent reassessment test conducted at the Sri Ramachandra Centre for Sports Science, Chennai, India.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) provided the details of Shakib's failure in the reassessment of his bowling action in Chennai and revealed that the all-rounder will remain suspended from bowling in all the tournaments. Earlier, Shakib had failed the initial bowling tests conducted at Loughborough University, United Kingdom.

His action was deemed illegal while playing a match in County cricket in England. After those results, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended him from bowling and the ban continued in all the tournaments as well.

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Shakib Al Hasan's bowling action deemed illegal again

The BCB put out a statement in which they revealed the details of Shakib Al Hasan's recent reassessment of his bowling action in Chennai. The board claimed that the allrounder needs to have a successful reassessment in order to continue bowling but also made it clear that he can continue playing as a batter.

"Consequently, the player's existing suspension from bowling in international cricket following the initial independent assessment at the testing centre of Loughborough University in the UK, also remains in place," the BCB stated.

The statement further adds, "A successful reassessment is required for the bowling suspension to be lifted. While Shakib is currently unable to bowl, he is eligible to continue playing as a batsman in all forms of domestic and international cricket."

Shakib's Champions Trophy chances take a hit

Shakib Al Hasan's inability to bowl will affect his chances of being selected in Bangladesh's squad for the Champions Trophy. A member of BCB's selection panel confirmed that his chances of playing in the tournament are not great if he is playing as a batter alone.

The source further mentioned that BCB is preparing the squad without two of their biggest names in cricket, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. He believes that Shakib needs to give a third reassessment and successfully pass it in order to be considered for selection.

"If he (Shakib Al Hasan) is not bowling chances are slim (to play in the Champions Trophy). "Tamim (Iqbal) is sorted (having announced retirement), and Shakib needs to come after giving his third (bowling reassessment) test and I am in doubt regarding his chances in the tournament," the unknown source told Cricbuzz.

"So you can say that we are preparing the squad without them (Tamim and Shakib) as we will not be thinking of Shakib if he is not bowling. If BCB feels that he can come after the test, we can go for replacement as we have time," he added.

Shakib Al Hasan's difficult last few months

Shakib Al Hasan last played an international match in September 2024 against India in a Test match at Kanpur. Since then, he has missed Bangladesh's ODI series against Afghanistan in the UAE and an away ODI series in West Indies.

The veteran left-hander has already announced his T20I retirement. He was stated to play his last Test against South Africa in Dhaka but was unable to reach his country citing security issues due to the protests against him by a student group.