Banned for 2 years

Dhaka, October 29

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was banned from all cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, for breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-Corruption code. Shakib had failed to report “approaches he received to engage in corrupt conduct”, and ICC said he had accepted three charges against him.

The 32-year-old Shakib did not report two approaches he received during a tri-series involving Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in January 2018; the third approach he did not report was made during a 2018 IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab. “Mr Al Hasan chose to admit the charges and agreed the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing,” an ICC statement said.

Extremely sad

“I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches,” Shakib said in a statement released by ICC. “The ICC ACU (Anti-Corruption Unit) is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.”

“I am looking forward to working with the ICC ACU team to support their education programme and ensure young players don’t make the same mistake I did,” he added. Shakib will be able to play again from Oct. 29, 2020, if he fulfils the conditions that are part of the suspended sentence. During the first year of suspension, he must not commit any offence under the ACU, and also take part in anti-corruption education programmes. ICC noted that Shakib’s offence was all the more serious as he is a very senior and experienced cricketer. “Shakib Al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the Code,” said ICC general manager Alex Marshall. “He should have reported each of these approaches. Shakib has accepted his errors and cooperated fully with the investigation.”

Leader role

Shakib, the national team’s captain in all formats, recently led a strike by Bangladesh’s cricketers, which they called off a week ago when the country’s cricket board accepted most of their demands, including pay rises and other benefits. 

Shakib has more than 11,000 runs and over 500 wickets across the three formats. He was in peak form in the World Cup this year, scoring 606 runs and picking up 11 wickets. 

The squad is set to leave for India on Wednesday, and Shakib will not be part of the touring party. He will also miss IPL 2020 and at least part of the T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Mominul Haque captain

Mominul Haque was named captain of the Test team while Mahmudullah will lead the T20I side. Taijul Islam has been named as Shakib’s replacement in the Test and T20I sides. Mohammad Saifuddin, who was ruled out of the series with injury and Tamim Iqbal who is sitting out due to personal reasons, have been replaced by Abu Haider Rony and Mohammad Mithun. Mustafizur Rahman also makes a return to the Test squad. The tour of India begins with three T20Is, starting on Nov 3. The two Tests will be played in Indore (Nov 14-18) and Kolkata (Nov 22-26). 

Early start

The match will begin at least an hour early than the usual 2.30pm start and the daily ticket price starts as low as Rs 50.— Agencies