Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been excluded from the Bangladesh squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies.
Shakib, who has retired from Test and T20I cricket, had hoped to play his final Test on home soil.
However, security concerns prevented that from happening, as reported earlier.
Despite this, Shakib has expressed his desire to continue playing ODIs until the Champions Trophy.
He missed the recent ODI series against Afghanistan and will now also be absent from the series against West Indies, which is Bangladesh’s only ODI series before the tournament.
“He (Shakib) is not available for the ODIs against West Indies, and we have prepared our squad accordingly,” a member of the selection panel informed Cricpulse on Saturday.
Another official from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) suggested that Shakib may not be in the right mental state to represent the national team at the moment, especially since he is currently playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 League for the Bangla Tigers.
“Considering his current mental state, we felt Shakib isn’t in the right condition to play.
Playing franchise cricket is different from representing the national team,” the official added.
Reports indicate that Shakib has made himself unavailable for the West Indies ODIs in order to focus on playing for Galle Marvels in the Lanka T10 League, which is scheduled from December 12 to 22.
Galle Marvels had selected Shakib in the Platinum Player category during the pre-draft selections for the tournament.
In the meantime, BCB officials are awaiting medical updates on Najmul Hossain and Towhid Hridoy before finalizing the squad for the white-ball series against West Indies.
Both players are recovering from groin injuries.
The selection panel is optimistic that Najmul will be available for the third ODI if his recovery continues as expected.
Towhid, who suffered a groin injury while playing football in Bogra, underwent a scan on Saturday, and the board is awaiting the results.
Bangladesh, who lost the first Test against West Indies by 201 runs, will play the second Test starting on November 30.
The three ODIs are scheduled in St. Kitts on December 8, 10, and 12, followed by three T20Is in St. Vincent on December 15, 17, and 19.
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