Bangladeshi cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan won a seat in the country's parliament Sunday after a landslide victory in a general election boycotted by the opposition, an official said.
The 36-year all-rounder, who leads the country in all formats of the game, beat his rival by a margin of more than 150,000 votes in his constituency in the western town of Magura, the district's chief administrator Abu Naser Beg said. "It was a landslide victory," he said.
There is no immediate comment from the cricketer, a candidate of the ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is herself widely expected to win a fifth term in power after the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the vote.
Shakib, speaking ahead of the election, conceded he was not facing any serious obstacle but told AFP the contest still made him anxious. "The competition and challenges are always there, be it a small team or big team," he said.