IPL 2018 Player Retention: Kolkata Knight Riders Release Shakib Al Hasan, Say Reports

Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, who as an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for seven years, has reportedly been released by the franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 player retentions, which are to be finalised later on Thursday. According to reports in a Bangladesh newspaper website, the all-rounder, who played just one match in the 10th edition of the IPL, will now be available for the player auction to be held on January 27 and 28.

"Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who has been featuring in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders for the past seven years but played only one match last season, has been released for this edition and he will also be available in the players' auction...," said a report in the dailystar.net.

Meanwhile, the report also stated that left-arm medium-pacer Mustafizur Rahman had been given a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to be available for the IPL, along with seven other players.

"Mustafizur was denied the NOC for the Pakistan Super League in February last year as he was recovering from injury but the board opted to grant the NOC for the IPL to Mustafizur, who played the previous two seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad," the report said.

"The other six Bangladesh players are Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Liton Das, Sabbir Rahman and Abul Hasan," it added.