Video clips of Shakib Al Hasan kicking the stumps, uprooting and angrily flinging them aside during a match of Dhaka Premier League, went viral around the world. Every tweet, re-tweet, share and post on social media disgraced Bangladesh cricket and questioned the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Shakib has been suspended for three DPL matches and fined Tk. 500,000 for misbehaving with the umpire on Saturday centering a leg before wicket (LBW) appeal against Abahani captain Mushfiqur Rahim.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan, however, has been considering the incident as a matter of embarrassment for Bangladesh cricket.
Speaking to a private TV channel on Saturday, the BCB president said, “The incident has spread around the world and I’m getting so many phone calls! I’m not answering the calls out of embarrassment. This is the height of disgrace for Bangladesh cricket.”
“There’s no point of continuing domestic cricket this way until we find a solution of the problem,” he added.
Nazmul Hassan wants to resolve the controversies regarding the standard of umpiring in domestic leagues that has led to this situation.
He also wants to investigate into the allegations of match fixing in the domestic circuit. He said he would stop domestic leagues but he wants a resolution of this. “If everything is like this, I won’t allow domestic cricket matches as long there is no solution. There is no point of playing cricket this way if everything is fixed beforehand, as I heard and as people say.”
“Around US $1 million is being spent to ensure biosecurity bubbles amid Covid-19. I would say there should be a solution to this first,” he added.
BCB issued a media release on Saturday that spoke about forming a special committee to dispel any suspicion of corruption in the ongoing DPL. But Nazmul Hassan said it would be a tough task for the investigation committee. “The problem is none can show me anything. No one files any complaint. How can I take action if no complaint is filed?”
“Still, I have asked for these incidents to be recorded. It is not that if a person brings any allegation, we punish somebody. But we definitely will take action in this regard,” the BCB president said.