Bangladesh Test captain Shakib al Hasan has been given a two-year ban for “failing to report corrupt approaches”. One year of Shakib’s ban is suspended and he will be able to return to the sport on 29 October 2020.
However, an immediate consequence is that he will not take part in his country’s tour of India, with his team set to fly into their neighbours on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old accepted three charges relating to requests for “inside information for betting purposes”.
Two years ago, , Shakib received an offer from a bookie before an international match during an international tri-series also involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and during the 2018 Indian Premier League, which he failed to report to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), as he was required to do. He then subsequently admitted his guilt of the offence to the ACSU’s investigating officers recently.
The news comes just a week after all-rounder Shakib, who is also the country’s Test and T20 skipper, led a strike of leading Bangladeshi players calling for better pay and conditions. The industrial action was called off after cricket administrators in the country acceded to most of the players’ demands.
In his absence, it is possible that the next most senior player, Mushfiqur Rahim might lead the team in Tests, whilst the choice for who will captain the side in the T20I series would appear to be between Mahmudullah Riyadh and Mossaddek Hossain.
Bangladesh begin their India tour with the three T20Is, starting on November 3 in Delhi, before heading to Indore to begin off their World Test Championship campaign from November 14.
32-year old Shakib, who also plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has played 56 tests for Bangladesh, scoring nearly 4,000 runs and taking 210 wickets, the first bowler from his country to reach that figure. He is both the highest run scorer and highest wicket taker for Bangladesh in World Cup history. Earliest this summer in England, he became the first player for any country to score 600 runs and take 10 wickets in a single World Cup.
Shakib is currently the number one ranked all-rounder in ODIs according to the ICC rankings, and second behind Australia’s Glenn Maxwell when it comes to T20Is.
The general manager of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, Alex Marshall, said in a statement “Shakib al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the code.
“He should have reported each of these approaches.”
