Shakib v Umpires: An unending saga
Shakib Al Hasan doesn’t like umpires.
No, he hasn’t said anything like that in public. But action speaks louder than words and in Shakib’s case, his disregard for umpires is too blatant to miss.
Over the years, the all-rounder has had many bust ups with match officials in domestic and international cricket and all this has added to his reputation of being Bangladesh cricket’s ‘Bad boy’.
On Saturday, in another such instance, fans saw Shakib lose his temper at an umpire.
In the 16th over of Fortune Barishal’s innings against Sylhet Strikers, Shakib was at the striker’s end against pacer Rejaur Rahman.
Rejaur bowled a short delivery, which bounced well over Shakib’s head and should’ve been called a wide by the square-leg umpire. But to Shakib’s disbelief, the umpire didn’t call it a wide and instead signalled it an over-shoulder height bouncer, which bowlers are allowed to bowl once every over.
Shakib immediately shouted at the umpire a couple of times, then walked up to him and demanded to know why that wasn’t signalled a wide ball.
The matter, thankfully, ended there and Shakib carried on with his innings.
Although Shakib was in the right, shouting at the umpire was an over-reaction which went against the spirit of the ‘Gentlemen’s game’. However, compared to his previous quarrels with umpire's, Saturday’s incident was quite tame.
Verbally abusing an umpire, BPL 2015
Saturday was not the first time Shakib lost his cool when dealing with an umpire in BPL.
In the 2015 edition of the tournament, when he was captaining the Rangpur Riders, Shakib cussed umpire Tanvir Ahmed after the latter turned down an appeal for a catch against Sylhet Super Stars batter Mushfiqur Rahim.
Shakib was banned for a match and was fined $20,000 for his transgression.
Walkout threat at the Nidahas Trophy, 2018
Shakib was leading Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in a high stakes match against Sri Lanka in the tri-nation series, Nidahas Trophy.
Bangladesh needed 12 runs in the last over to win with Mahmudullah at the middle as the lone recognised batter.
In the second ball of the final over, pacer Isuru Udana bowled a bouncer, his second one of the over, which was above shoulder height.
According to the rules, Bangladesh should’ve been awarded a no-ball, but the square-leg umpire didn’t concur.
Furious at the decision, Shakib came to the boundary ropes and signalled his batters to return to the dugout, which would mean a forfeit from Bangladesh.
In the end, common sense prevailed, Bangladesh carried on with the chase and Mahmudullah scripted a memorable victory for the Tigers.
Kicking the stumps at DPL, 2021
Shakib’s most talked about outburst against an umpire, which went viral on social media, took place at the 2021 edition of the domestic 50-over competition Dhaka Premier League (DPL).
Shakib, who was leading Mohammedan Sporting Club against Abahani Limited, appealed for an lbw against Musfiqur Rahim, which the umpire denied.
Shakib immediately went up to the stumps and kicked the wickets with his left leg, setting the bails flying. The umpire, Imran Parvez, was visibly stunned by Shakib’s action.
Just one over later, Shakib was once again irate when the umpires called to stop the play for bad light when Mohammedan were at an advantageous position.
This time, he went up to the stumps, picked them up with his hands and slammed them on the ground, all the while berating the umpire.
For this offence, Shakib was banned for three matches, fined Tk 500,000 and lambasted at home and abroad.