Shakib Al Hasan set to compete in 12th Parliamentary election in January

Shakib Al Hasan the Bangladesh skipper will be standing for the 12th Parliamentary elections. He will contest the country's parliamentary elections in January next year. The left-hander will be the candidate of the ruling Awami League from his home district in the Magura-1 constituency, almost 175 km from Dhaka. The star all-rounder was slammed by his own fans after Bangladesh's dismal performance in the ODI World Cup 2023. Fans were agitated with the skipper as he also was not able to perform as per expectations. 

He will not be the first cricketer from Bangladesh to enter politics. During the last elections, former skipper Mashrafe Mortaza was elected as the MP for Narail. Nazmul Hassan, President of the BCB, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2009. His choice to stand for election may have an effect on his cricketing duties while he campaigns for the election as the Bangla Tigers are scheduled to play against New Zealand in a two-match Test series at home. 

The 36-year-old all-rounder has lined up many more tours and it will be difficult for him as the team will travel to New Zealand for six limited-overs games from December 11 to December 31. He is also suffering a finger injury and might miss the Test series against the Kiwis. 

He is a celebrity and has great popularity among the country's youth: AFP

AFP quoted, "He is a celebrity and has great popularity among the country's youth." The all-rounder has played perhaps his last ODI World Cup. They only won two games Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh had to make an early exit after finishing eighth in the points table. They managed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. However, according to reports, the major opposition parties are planning to boycott the polls. 

Mashrafe is also part of the Awami League and won the 2018 election from his constituency of Narail-2. He won the election one-sided tallied 96% votes from his home seat. The former skipper is also the Youth and Sports affairs secretary in the Awami League.