Shakib Al Hasan to Miss Remaining NPL Matches

Shakib Al Hasan will not play another match for Pokhara Avengers in NPL Season 3. The Bangladesh all-rounder and the franchise reached the decision together after discussions this week, bringing an early end to a stint that began with such promise and now closes with Pokhara still searching for their first win of the season. Pokhara confirmed that Shakib will head to the United Arab Emirates for the Abu Dhabi T10, where he is signed with United Tigers. The ten-over tournament starts on 7 November, the same day the news broke, and runs until 20 November, which left no room for Shakib to see out the rest of the NPL league stage. The timing is what makes the departure sting for Pokhara. The Avengers sit bottom of the points table with no points from four matches, and they have three league games left to save a season that has slipped away from them. Losing the biggest name in their squad at this point is a blow, even if the cricketing logic behind it is hard to argue with.

A decision made together

Pokhara Avengers chairman Subodh Tripathi confirmed the move, saying Shakib will now travel to the UAE to play in the T10 league. The two sides talked after Pokhara's hopes of reaching the playoffs faded, and the agreement was that Shakib would be released from the rest of his NPL commitments.

Shakib was expected to feature against Chitwan Rhinos on Friday, 6 November, but he was absent from the side, and Pokhara went on to lose by 30 runs. That defeat was their fourth in a row, and it left them as the only team in the eight-team league yet to win a match.

Chamika Karunaratne captained Pokhara in that game, having taken over the leadership from Kushal Bhurtel, and the change at the top could not change the result. Chitwan posted 151 for 6 and bowled Pokhara out for 121, with Rijan Dhakal taking 4 for 24.

The departure reverses what Pokhara announced before the season began. When Shakib signed, the franchise confirmed he would be available for the full tournament, and he arrived in Kathmandu on 25 October, a day before the season opened. His signing was the biggest overseas capture of Pokhara's season, and the club welcomed him as the greatest all-rounder in the game.

That is why the news lands as more than a routine squad change. Pokhara built their overseas group around Shakib, alongside fellow Bangladeshis Mahedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin, and the plan was for the former Bangladesh captain to anchor the side through the league stage. Instead, his NPL campaign lasted three matches.

Three matches, four wickets

On the field, the returns were modest by Shakib's standards. He scored 26 runs in three innings and took four wickets, and Pokhara lost all three of the matches he played in.

His debut came on 28 October against Sudurpaschim Royals at Kirtipur, when he made 14 from 16 balls and took 1 for 24 from four overs. Pokhara lost that match by six wickets, and the tone for their season was set early.

His best performance with the ball came on 1 November against Janakpur Bolts, when he took 3 for 15 in four overs, including the wicket of Saif Hassan for one run. It was the standout spell of the innings, but it came in a losing cause: Shakib made only 9 from 17 balls, and Pokhara fell nine runs short of Janakpur's 147 for 7.

Two days later, against Lumbini Lions, came the low point. Shakib made 3 from 8 balls and bowled two overs for six runs without a wicket, as Pokhara were bowled out for 97 and lost by eight wickets with 50 balls to spare. It was their third straight defeat, and the batting had now failed in every outing.

The numbers tell a story of a player who was tidy with the ball but never found his rhythm with the bat. His four wickets came at a good economy rate, and the 3 for 15 against Janakpur showed what he can still do in the middle overs. But 26 runs from three innings is a long way below what Pokhara needed from their marquee overseas signing, and the team around him never gave him a total to defend or a chase to finish.

The T10 pull

The Abu Dhabi T10 explains the timing. The tournament runs from 7 to 20 November at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, and United Tigers open their campaign against Arabian Aces on the opening day. The NPL league stage runs until 15 November, with the final on 21 November, so the two tournaments overlap almost completely.

Shakib joins a United Tigers squad that already has a strong Bangladeshi presence. Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Habibur Rahman Sohan are all signed with the franchise, so Shakib will be among familiar faces in Abu Dhabi.

For a player of Shakib's standing, the pull of the T10 circuit is nothing new. He has spent the past two years playing franchise cricket around the world, and the short, sharp format suits a cricketer who can change a game in the space of ten balls with bat or ball. The NPL was supposed to be his home for a month. The calendar had other ideas.

What the episode shows is how crowded the franchise calendar has become. A player can sign for a full season in one league and still be pulled away by another that starts a fortnight later, and it is the team at the bottom of the table, with the least room to absorb the loss, that pays the price.

What it means for Pokhara

Pokhara's position is now as stark as it gets. Four matches, four defeats, no points, and a net run rate of minus 1.679 leave them last, and the side that was supposed to challenge for a first playoff appearance is instead fighting to avoid finishing the season empty-handed.

The batting has been the problem all along. Pokhara have failed to chase in all four outings, and even in the one match where they batted first, against Lumbini, they managed only 97. Arjun Kumal's 45 against Chitwan was the best of a thin set of contributions, and captain Kushal Bhurtel's lean run with the bat has left the middle order short of runs.

The bowling has kept Pokhara in matches without ever winning them one. Bipin Khatri and Karunaratne have taken wickets, Mahedi Hasan has been economical, and the attack has had its moments, including the early breakthroughs against Chitwan. But a bowling unit can only do so much when the batters keep leaving it with too little to defend.

Without Shakib, the responsibility shifts. Karunaratne now leads the side as well as bowling his full quota, Mahedi becomes the senior Bangladeshi in the squad, and the local core of Bhurtel, Kumal and Kiran Thagunna has to find the runs that have been missing for two weeks.

The maths is simple enough. Three league matches remain, and three wins would take Pokhara to six points. Even that may not be enough to reach the top four, and it would need results elsewhere to go their way, but it is the only path left, and it starts with a win they have not managed yet.

What happens next

Pokhara return to action on Monday, 9 November, against Karnali Yaks at 12:30 PM NST at the TU International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur. They then face Biratnagar Kings on Thursday, 12 November, at the same time, before finishing the league stage against Kathmandu Gorkhas on Sunday, 15 November, at 4:30 PM NST.

All three matches are now must-win games, and all three will be played without the player Pokhara signed to lead them. The Avengers have three chances to give their fans something to cheer before the season ends. After the week they have just had, even one win would feel like a start.