Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain, has been banned by the ICC from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code.
His offences related to two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in January, also involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and one match in the IPL, where he was a player with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Shakib, 32, is Bangladesh’s leading current cricketer and among their all-time greats. He is currently at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC allrounders’ rankings for Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively, and is also a valuable member of the various T20 franchises he is part of across the world.
He will be free to resume international cricket on October 29, 2020, subject to his satisfying the conditions in respect of the suspended part of the sanction. He is likely to miss most of next year’s headline event, the World T20 in Australia, which runs from October 18 to November 15.
The ICC charged Shakib under Article 2.4.4, for failure to report two approaches to engage in corrupt conduct during the tri-series and for failure to disclose full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in corrupt conduct in relation to the Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab match in IPL 2018 on April 26, 2018.
In order to avoid the one-year suspended sentence coming into effect, Shakib must not commit any offence under the ACU code during the initial one-year suspension, and participate regularly in anti-corruption education and/or rehabilitation programmes.
The ICC said that Shakib had accepted the charges and agreed to the sanction in lieu of an anti-corruption tribunal hearing.
“I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches,” an ICC statement quoted him as saying. “The ICC ACU is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.”
Alex Marshall, ICC’s general manager – integrity, said, “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.
“Shakib has accepted his errors and cooperated fully with the investigation. He has offered to assist the Integrity Unit in future education, to help younger players to learn from his mistakes. I am happy to accept this offer.”
The Shakib development comes at a time of huge upheaval in the BCB. Only a week ago, Shakib had led a players’ strike in Bangladesh, which came to an end last Wednesday after the BCB ceded to all the demands.
The news comes on the eve of Bangladesh’s tour of India, which starts on November 3. Shakib was meant to leave with the Bangladesh T20 squad on Wednesday for the tour, which comprises three T20s and two Test matches. Bangladesh have not yet announced their Test squad for the tour.
What rule did Shakib violate?
The most basic form of offence for failing the report an approach is covered under 2.4.4 of the ACU code. It says: “Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.”
The reason behind reporting any approach promptly and quickly is because any delay can hamper investigations.
“It is acknowledged that the assessment of whether there had been ‘unnecessary delay’ in each case will depend on its own circumstances, but it is always unacceptable (and will therefore constitute ‘unnecessary delay’) for a Participant to wait until after the match in respect of which he/she was invited to engage in Corrupt Conduct before reporting that approach to the ACU,” the ICC code says.
What is the sanction?
A minimum of six months and a maximum of five years.
(ESPNCricinfo)
