Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has landed in another controversy after admitting that he deliberately bowled with an illegal action during a county cricket match in England. His comments came during an appearance on the YouTube podcast “Beard Before Wicket,” where he discussed the pressures he faced while playing for Surrey.
Shakib Al Hasan said he bowled long spells during Surrey’s match against Somerset in Taunton and became extremely tired. This, he explained, led him to use an illegal action. “Surrey bowled more than 70 overs in the match, which I had never done before. I was very tired after bowling long spells. I think I deliberately bowled with some illegal action,” he said, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
His admission comes months after the International Cricket Council (ICC) cleared his bowling action in March 2025. Before that, in December 2024, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended him from bowling for exceeding the permitted elbow extension of 15 degrees.
Shakib shared more details about the situation and said he had just completed a Test series against Pakistan before moving to play four-day county cricket. He added that he expected only a warning from the umpire but ended up being officially reported. “I also remained silent when I was reported for suspected illegal action,” he said. He failed the first action test but later passed it.
The all-rounder also made a surprising revelation about his international career. Despite earlier announcements, Shakib Al Hasan confirmed that he is not retired from any format. He said he wants to return to Bangladesh, play one full series across ODI, Test, and T20I formats, and then retire officially. He said the order of formats did not matter as long as he could complete a full farewell series.
His new stance contrasts with his September 2024 statement, in which he indicated that retirement was near and hoped to play one last match at home.
Shakib Al Hasan has long been one of Bangladesh’s most influential players. He is the only cricketer to top the ICC all-rounder rankings in all three formats at the same time. His career has been marked by both standout performances and controversies.
He left Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. As a former Awami League member of parliament, he was later barred from representing the national team. Adviser Asif Mahmud confirmed this after Shakib posted birthday wishes to the former prime minister on social media.
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Shakib has represented Bangladesh in 70 Tests, 247 ODIs, and 129 T20Is since his debut in 2006.
