National team selection panel chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu became the latest one to urge that the path for the active cricketers to join politics should be closed forever. 

He also urged the political parties not to include any active sportsmen in their politics.

"The reforms that we are talking about, I believe there will be certain processes to decide whether someone can do politics while being in the national team,” Ashraf said while addressing the media today. 

“At the same time, I would like to add that reforms should be done in both ways. Like for a player, can he join a political party when he is with the national team and at the same time should the political parties include a national player in their party? Both work for the country. It's not a one way traffic. You can't just blame the player, the political party also has to be equally responsible,” he added.

While being the captain of the national team, Mashrafe got the Awami League ticket and became an MP. Thereafter he led Bangladesh in 2019 World Cup. He became an MP from Narail-2 constituency in 2024 as well. In the same year, Shakib was elected MP from Magura-1.

Their decision to join politics and continue cricket at the same time was criticized heavily. The things came to the fore more strongly after the fall of the Awami League government. 

"If there are sports and political activities, which do you prefer?" If there is a specific direction, then it seems good. So, a player should think about his priorities before going into politics. I think the path should be closed forever,” Ashraf said.

Ashraf has also given a message to the political parties, "When a player is doing good, I don’t think a political party should include him in the politics.  The players also should think about it. Anyone can make mistakes and he also has a chance to correct it. If Shakib makes any mistakes, I think he has the opportunity to fix it and bring himself in the right path.”