Bangladesh cricketers rally round murder accused teammate Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh captain Shanto says the murder case filed in Dhaka against former lawmaker Shakib Al Hasan is ‘unexpected’.

Bangladesh’s cricketers have rallied round teammate Shakib Al Hasan, the ousted lawmaker who faces a case of murder connected to unrest that toppled the government earlier this month.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his team’s maiden Test win against Pakistan on Sunday, in which all-rounder Shakib took three wickets in the second innings, was a tribute to the hundreds killed during protests that forced former premier Sheikh Hasina from power.

Bangladesh endured weeks of student-led protests that resulted in Hasina fleeing to India by helicopter on August 5, ending 15 years of rule.

Shakib, 37, who lost his job as a lawmaker for Hasina’s Awami League party when parliament was dissolved, is “a big asset of our country”, said Shanto in a post on Facebook late Monday.

“He’s been raising the name of Bangladesh in the world for 17 long years,” Shanto said.

Rafiqul Islam, the father of one of the hundreds killed during the civil unrest, filed a murder case against Shakib and 155 others in Dhaka on August 22.

Hasina’s government was accused of widespread abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of political opponents.

Hasina, her former ministers and other ex-lawmakers are also among the accused.

Shakib has not spoken publicly about the case, but his teammates said they were offering him support.

“Such a case against Shakib bhai [brother] is unexpected,” Shanto added.

“In the new Bangladesh, we all want to see something new. I hope all the darkness will pass off and new light will come.”

Veteran batsman Mushfiqur Rahim said on Facebook: “I have said it many times before, and I will say