Shakib Al Hasan to Play Full NPL 2026 Season for Pokhara

Shakib Al Hasan will play the full NPL 2026 season for Pokhara Avengers, the Bangladesh great has confirmed — settling the one open question over the franchise's marquee overseas signing just days before the tournament begins.

Shakib Al Hasan full NPL 2026 season confirmed from day one

Shakib Al Hasan has settled the last remaining question around Pokhara Avengers' Season 3 planning. The Bangladesh all-rounder told BDCricTime that he will be available for the franchise from the very start of the Nepal Premier League's third edition, and that he will feature for the Avengers throughout the competition — meaning Pokhara will have their marquee overseas man available for every match of the campaign.

He is scheduled to join the team on October 25, a day before the tournament gets underway. The franchise underlined the news on its official Instagram account, announcing that Shakib "is all set to play the full season" with the Avengers. The confirmation lands four days before Season 3 opens at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, giving the Avengers their full overseas group together for the final pre-season preparations.

The news closes a genuine uncertainty. When Pokhara announced the signing in July, HimalPress noted that it remained unclear whether Shakib would be available for the entire season given his franchise commitments elsewhere. Shakib's own answer — available from the first day, for the whole season — is the strongest version of the news Pokhara could have hoped for.

Why Shakib matters to Pokhara's playoff push

Shakib's value to Pokhara was never in doubt, but full-season availability multiplies it. The 39-year-old former Bangladesh captain is one of the most accomplished all-rounders of his generation: a left-handed batter and slow left-arm orthodox bowler who has represented Bangladesh in 71 Tests, 247 ODIs and 129 T20Is, with 7,570 ODI runs, 317 ODI wickets, 2,551 T20I runs and 149 T20I wickets, according to Cricnepal's report of the signing.

His 2019 ODI World Cup — 606 runs and 11 wickets, the first time a player had passed 600 runs and 10 wickets in a single edition — remains one of the finest individual all-round performances the tournament has seen. At Kirtipur, where spin grows more decisive as a tournament wears on, a left-arm spinner of his pedigree is a tactical asset on two fronts: control through the middle overs and a left-handed anchor in the batting order.

The stakes are real for the franchise. Pokhara have missed the playoffs in both of the league's first two editions, and they have recruited specifically to end that run — Shakib, fellow Bangladesh all-rounder Mahedi Hasan and Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya Lakshan among the overseas group, with Ajantha Mendis as head coach. With their marquee man now confirmed for the full season, the season-long planning can begin in earnest.

Bangladesh's growing footprint at the NPL

Shakib's full-season commitment also caps a strong Bangladeshi thread running through Season 3. Pokhara have paired him with Mahedi Hasan, the 31-year-old off-spinning all-rounder ranked No. 8 among T20I bowlers by the ICC, after the franchise announced that signing on social media five days before the opener.

Elsewhere in the league, young wicketkeeper-batter Akbar Ali and 21-year-old batter Ariful Islam are with Karnali Yaks, while Jishan Alam has joined Biratnagar Kings — a reminder that the NPL's reach into Bangladeshi cricket runs from its biggest legend to its newest prospects.

Four days to the Season 3 opener

The confirmation lands with the curtain-raiser four days away. Season 3 runs from October 26 to November 21 at the TU ground in Kirtipur, where all matches of the eight-team league will be played — and where every game now carries official ICC statistical standing after the league's matches were recognised as official T20 fixtures. Pokhara open their campaign against Sudurpaschim Royals on October 28.

For fans planning their week, the Season 3 schedule has every fixture, the teams page carries the squads, and the tickets and streaming guides cover how to watch. Shakib's Avengers — with the Bangladeshi pair locked in from day one — are now one of the teams to watch.