Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has returned to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the 14^th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being picked up by the two-time IPL champions for Rs 3.2 crore in the IPL 2021 auction on Thursday (February 18) in Chennai.

Shakib has previously played for the KKR between 2011 and 2017 and was an integral part of their title-winning campaigns in the 2012 and 2014 IPL seasons. Well, then the all-rounder played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2019 but missed last season due to one year ban by ICC.

Well, the experienced all-rounder will have to miss the forthcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in April in order to be available for the entirety of the IPL 2021, and for the same, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) granted Shakib permission on Friday (February 19).

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BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan has confirmed that Shakib had written the board for the same and now they have given him the approval to play in the IPL 14 for the entire season.

Akram told Cricbuzz: “He (Shakib) had recently given us a letter [asking] to skip the Test series against Sri Lanka as he wanted to take part in the IPL. We have given him the permission as there is no point pushing someone who is not interested to play (Test for the national team).”

Noteworthy, following the latest leave, the 33-year-old has been granted paternity leave for the second time to skip the international games, first to skip the white-ball tour of New Zealand later in February-March to be with his wife for the birth of their third child in the USA and now Sri Lanka Tests.

However, the all-rounder is expected to be available in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, subject to proving his fitness, which will be followed by two-match Test series.