(Cricket News) Veteran Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is very keen on playing yet another T20 World Cup post the 2024 edition of the tournament. The next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is going to be held in 2026 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Shakib is one of the two players alongside Rohit Sharma who have featured in all the T20 World Cups till now. There were speculations that this world cup can be the last for the all-rounder from Bangladesh, but it is likely that he can feature in yet another in 2026.
Shakib is currently the highest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history. He has grabbed a total of 47 wickets in his 36 appearances at this big stage. He previously has talked about making a call on his retirement plans post the 2025 Champions trophy, but has now hinted that he has one eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup as well.
“Firstly, when I started I didn’t expect that I will play for so long and secondly since the start of T20 Cricket World Cup till this T20 World Cup, I have participated in all them along with Rohit Sharma. It is a matter of pride for me and I’m happy that I could represent the country,” Shakib was quoted in a video uploaded in BCB’s Facebook page on Friday.
“Me and Rohit Sharma are the only two players who played all the T20 World Cups and I hope that I can play another World Cup but before that would like to perform well in the tournament and Bangladesh can do better than previous T20 tournament,” he said.
Shakib’s family is based out of USA and hence he spends a lot of time in that part of the world. It is his second home and he expects that Bangladesh would play some good cricket at the global stage this time around. He also feels that the wickets in the US would be quite similar to what they get back home.
“It is alright that USA is my second home but it is difficult to say but I think we will get that because earlier when we played in West Indies and America we did well and we played in Florida we did well,” said Shakib.
“We always get favour their because those pitches are quite similar to ours back home. I hope we will get advantage in both the places,” he said.
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