Shakib's ban was shocking, says BCB president
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s Test and T20 captain, was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years for not informing ACU about receiving an offer from a bookie thrice.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has said that he was shocked to learn that Shakib did not not inform the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) about receiving offers of fixing.
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's Test and T20 captain, was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years for not informing ACU about receiving an offer from a bookie thrice.
Nazmul said that he was shocked when he came to know about Shakib's punishment. He said, "We are shocked. Nothing can be more shocking than this. I have always said that we do not have a backup for two players, Mashrafe as a captain and Shakib as a player."
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He added that Shakib was crucial for the side and the plan of the team management was ruined by his suspension. "Shakib not being able to play is a shock for us. We have an important series ahead. We are going to India and the World Test Championship is starting soon. All our planning was around Shakib. You all know why we made him our captain," the BCB president added.
Nazmul said that he was angry at Shakib for not informing the ACU. He said, "I was angry at him because of not informing ICC (about being approached by a bookie). But I also want to say this that Shakib accepted his fault and completely co-operated with ACU."
He also added that the BCB had nothing to do with the matter and only came to know the result. "I want to clarify one thing that Shakib is the witness. BCB knew nothing. We knew nothing about the investigation happening from January. ACSU is an independent part of ICC. As far as I know, they only contacted with Shakib. We only knew about the result," he added. The BCB president also added that he came to know about it only two-three days back.
Nazmul at the end pleaded to everyone to stay beside Shakib and also assured him that BCB was always with him. "I believe it strongly that we all should be beside Shakib, he is having a bad time. We just want to say that he has no reason to break down. He is supposed to help ACU and should do it. We will be with him. Whenever he needs any support, we will provide that to him," the BCB president ended.
The Bangladesh team will fly to India without their regular captain on Wednesday and their first match is on the third of November at Delhi.
