Bangladesh’s Shakib bats for ruling party in elections

MAGURA, Bangladesh: Turning his star sports power to politics, colourful Bangladeshi cricketer Shakib Al Hasan is all but guaranteed to become a ruling party lawmaker with general elections on Sunday boycotted by the opposition.

Better known as the leading all-rounder of his era, the 36-year-old skipper has been on a whirlwind campaign for the ruling party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The result is barely in question.

Opposition parties withdrew from a vote they said would be neither free nor fair, accusing Hasina of ruling with an iron fist.

Shakib conceded he was not facing any serious obstacle to his election, but told AFP while on the hustings that the contest still made him anxious.

“The competition and challenges are always there, be it a small team or big team,” he said in his hometown Magura, where he is contesting a seat for Hasina´s Awami League.

“Even when we know we will win against a team, we still feel our heart beat before the game.”

Shakib´s campaign obliged him to take a temporary leave of absence from cricket.

He skipped a New Zealand tour where the team has shone without him, making history with their first one-day and Twenty20 wins against the Black Caps on the hosts´ soil.

Instead, he has been pounding the streets from morning till late, surrounded by cheering party loyalists and boys keen to meet their sporting hero.

But he bristled at the suggestion he would not be able to balance his duties as a lawmaker and a cricket captain.

“Did I retire?” he asked. “If I haven´t retired, then where does this question come from?”

Dressed in a traditional white tunic, he playfully lobbed tennis balls into excited crowds as teenagers broke through security cordons to pose for selfies.