Shakib Al Hasan made a comeback on the pitch just weeks after he was slapped with a two-year ban by the international cricket governing body, but on a footballing one instead, when he turned up to represent social football club Footy Hags in Dhaka, report agencies.
Playing against the Korean Expat Team at the Bangladesh Army Stadium, the 32-year-old won the match 3-2, operating mainly from the right-side of the midfield.
Footy Hags also included some familiar faces from the original underground football teams, including Seven Nation Army, DOHS United and Powerpuff Boys. "We played 11 a side on a full size pitch at the Army Stadium against the Korean Expat team today. We won 3-2. Good to have Shakib Al Hasan back in the Footy Hags Team," Footy Hags said on their Facebook post. Shakib’s tryst with football has been on show before too, when he had led the Bangladesh Tigers to a 4-1 win against the Footy Hags at Old DOHS Ground in Dhaka back in August 2016. To take some time off of training before England’s tour of Bangladesh, the all-rounder had become a booter for a day along with the likes of Mashrafe Mortaza, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Nasir Hossain, Anamul Haque Bijoy and Sabbir Rahman.
Shakib was banned by the ICC for two years (one year suspended) for not reporting corrupt approaches from an alleged Indian bookie.
