Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan says the illegal action that briefly sidelined him last winter was, in his words, “a little bit intentional”. The left-arm spinner was reported after a County Championship match for Surrey in September 2024, and an independent test at Loughborough later confirmed his elbow was over the 15-degree limit. The ECB ban that followed was automatically recognised worldwide.
“I think I was doing it a little bit intentionally because I bowled more than 70 overs [in one match],” he told the Beard Before Wicket podcast. “I never bowled 70 overs in my career in a Test match. I was playing that four-day match for Surrey against Somerset in Taunton. I was so tired.”
A punishing schedule helps explain the lapse. Shakib had just finished a victorious Test series in Pakistan, then rushed straight into red-ball duty for Surrey. With the Taunton surface turning late, skipper Rory Burns kept him on almost without a break: 33.5 overs in the first innings, 29.3 in the second. Somewhere in that workload his arm crept past the legal limit.
“The only thing I was thinking the umpire could have done was just warn me first, at least,” Shakib added. “But it is in the rules, so they had the right. I didn’t complain.”
Once cited, the process moved quickly. Shakib failed the initial assessment in December, worked briefly with Surrey’s coaching staff, then failed again at a follow-up test in Chennai. Bangladesh’s selectors left him out of their Champions Trophy squad, though the board stressed he could bat if required.
He finally passed a third assessment back at Loughborough in February and is free to bowl again. “I did two sessions and I was back to normal. I was like, ‘it’s so easy’,” he laughed, a touch sheepishly.
Former Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha, speaking off-the-record to local media last month, felt sympathy. “Any bowler can lose his shape when he’s that fatigued,” he said. “The main thing is he owned the problem and fixed it.”
Surrey have indicated they would welcome Shakib for another short stint in 2026 provided his international diary permits. For now, the 38-year-old wants to manage his workload more carefully. He knows that, intentional or not, any repeat would risk a longer suspension—and, at this stage of his career, there may not be time for another reset.
