Shakib available for DPL

Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had recently asked to be rested from the Sri Lanka series due to his persisting eye problem.

 The cricketer had said numerous times he was not sure what the problem really was and whether rest was enough to overcome it.

Shakib had struggled with the bat at the beginning of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) but has been finding runs as BPL enters the final stages of the league phase. He may consult eye specialists again after the BPL.

Shakib is set to play in the upcoming Dhaka Premier League (DPL) for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and even though he is skipping international series, he has communicated to the club that he would be available.

The DPL starts from March 9 and Shakib remains available as he had already asked to skip Sri Lanka's tour of Bangladesh.

"The decision belongs to him but he has said that he is available," a club official told The Daily Star yesterday.

There is still confusion regarding his availability due to the eye issue but Shakib wants to find intensity in domestic cricket before he jumps back into international cricket.

"He is still not fully fit and the problem is persisting. He wants to play a few domestic games before he starts playing international games. The two [domestic and internationals] are different levels, so he wants to return well and not in an in-between state," the club official added.

Earlier, talking to The Daily Star, BCB cricket operations committee chairman Jalal Yunus said that Shakib "wanted to focus on domestic cricket at the moment."