Shakib given all-format contract as BCB announces annual contracts for 2022

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the national players' contract for the period of January to December 2022 on Thursday. A total of 21 members have made the cut, three less than the previous year.

Five players have been given all-format contracts including all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who, just days ago, opted out of the South Africa tour. The other players bagging all-formar contracts are- Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed. All of them were given all-format contracts last year too.

Shakib has recently been granted a break until 30 April from all forms of cricket and will miss the Test and ODI series in South Africa. Bangladesh visited South Africa the last time without Shakib too as he took a six-month break from the longest format just before the series. Since then, Shakib has missed 18 out of 26 Tests Bangladesh played due to injury and personal reasons. Shakib did not feature in the Test series Bangladesh played in New Zealand earlier this year as well.

Shakib said he 'felt like a passenger' in the recently concluded Afghanistan series and mentioned he needs a break from cricket citing his physical and mental fatigue and stress. The all-rounder is currently in the UAE and the BCB was supposed to sit with him after his return but his inclusion in the central contracts in all formats suggests that the board wants Shakib to play across formats. 

"Actually we have to make a decision. If a player doesn't want to play, we have to call a back-up player. And even if that player does well, we have to drop him when our main player returns. A player can have his own plans and preferences. Last year we spoke to Shakib and he said that he wanted to play all formats. That's why he was on the list. But now he is not acting accordingly. It creates confusion for the players and selectors. That's why we have to decide on it. But in our country, senior players are given respect and we are doing exactly that," said Jalal Yunus, chairman of the cricket operations department of the BCB, on Tuesday. 

It's still unknown whether the BCB or the selectors have spoken to Shakib about his availability in all formats of cricket throughout the year. Regarding that, The Business Standard (TBS) tried to contact the chief selector Minhajul Abedin but the BCB stated that he would speak to the media about the annual contract on Friday. 

Tamim Iqbal is currently on a six-month break from T20Is and that's why he has been given Test and ODI contracts. Mehidy Hasan Miraz is the only other player contracted for Tests and ODIs.

Mahmudullah, already retired from Tests, has got a white-ball [Tests and ODIs] contract. Two more cricketers - Mustafizur Rahman and Afif Hossain - have been contracted for white-ball formats only. Mohammad Saifuddin has been excluded from this very category of contracts. 

11 players have been handed single-format contracts - seven for Tests and four for T20Is. 

Test skipper Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ebadot Hossain, Shadman Islam have been retained in the Test contracts. Taijul, who was given a contract for Tests and ODIs last year, has been given a Test-only contract this year. Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Yasir Ali are the new names to be included in the Test contract. Saif Hassan and Abu Jayed, who were part of the red-ball contract, have failed to make the cut.

Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan have been retained in the list of players contracted for T20Is while Shamim Hossain and Soumya Sarkar have been left out.

Total contracted players: 21

All formats (five): Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam

Tests and ODIs (two): Tamim Iqbal, Mehidy Hasan Miraz

ODIs and T20Is (three): Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Afif Hossain 

Tests only (seven): Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shadman Islam, Yasir Ali, Mahmudul Hasan Joy

T20Is only (four): Nurul Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Naim.