Fortune Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan has been making headlines for the wrong reasons right from the onset of the ninth Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
On Tuesday, Shakib once again got tangled in controversy when he charged to the middle right before the start of his team’s chase against Rangpur Riders and had a heated argument with the on-field umpire.
The dispute stemmed from a dispute about who will open the attack for Rangpur and which Barishal opener will take first strike.
Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan was set to open the attack for Rangpur and Barishal’s Chaturanga de Silva was ready to take first strike.
But seeing the left-hander Chaturanga on strike, Rangpur skipper Nurul Hasan took the ball from Rakibul and handed it to right-arm off-spinner Mahedi Hasan.
Seeing this change of bowlers, Barishal openers also swapped places, with right-hander Anamul Haque going to the striker’s end.
After that, Rangpur once again gave the ball to Rakibul to open the attack.
Rangpur’s insistence to bowl a left-arm bowler against a right-hander or a right-arm bowler against a left-hander and Barishal’s intention to avoid that anyhow caused all the trouble.
When this drama was taking place at the middle, Shakib stormed onto the field from the dugout and went straight to square leg umpire Gazi Sohel.
As per the rules, Shakib is not allowed to come into the field like that. But that didn’t stop the Barishal captain from getting into a confrontation with the umpire.
The argument continued for around five more minutes. Once Shakib left the field, left-handed Chaturanga took first strike against left-arm spinner Rakibul. In the same over, Chaturanga was dismissed by Rakibul.
Barishal manager Sazzad Ahmed later explained why Shakib had gone inside the field, “As per the rules, the bowling side first decides who will open the attack ad then the batters decide who will take first strike. So, after Shakib saw Mahedi Hasan will open the bowling, Shakib wanted Anamul Haque to take first strike in place of Chaturanga de Silva. But the umpires were not allowing that, that’s why he entered the field to speak with the umpires.”
This is the second time Shakib has argued with an umpire in this year’s BPL. During Barishal’s first match against Sylhet Strikers’, pacer Rejaur Rahman had bowled an overhead bouncer against Shakib, but the square-leg umpire Mahfuzur Rahman didn’t signal it as a wide.
Shakib, clearly unhappy with the decision, shouted at the umpire a few times and then had a slight argument.
Opposition’s wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim went up to Shakib and helped him calm down and resume his innings.