BANGLADESH all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been banned for six months for his ‘severe attitude problem’, the country’s cricket board said on Monday. Shakib, Bangladesh’s most prominent cricketer, will also not be allowed to play in overseas competitions till the end of 2015, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said. ‘He has a severe attitude problem, which is unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh cricket. That is affecting the total team’.
Whole punishment thing came with the accusation that Shakib was travelling to the West Indies to play in the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 tournament without a clearance from his board. He was subsequently ordered to return to Bangladesh and he returned as ordered.
The 27-year-old, who has played 34 tests and 136 one-day-internationals, had reportedly threatened to quit playing for the country and had an altercation with coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, an allegation Shakib has denied. ‘It is not easy to take such action against player like Shakib but we had to take it for the welfare of the country’s cricket,’ the BCB chief added. Shakib will miss Bangladesh’s tour of West Indies starting next month when they will play three one day internationals, a T20 international and two tests.
Like many others we find that Bangladesh Cricket Board was too eager to show toughness and not fair punishment. Firstly, it is a basic requirement of any process of punishment that person concerned should be heard. But allegation are that Shakib had an altercation with the coach and some spectators as well as his recent visit to the West Indies were acts of violation of the club discipline. But he should have been given a chance to be heard.
The terms of Reference of his contract were not made public so we still don’t know if he was required to get a NOC from BCCB to play in overseas T20 matches as a private individual where Bangladesh cricket has no interest.
Cricketers of his caliber in our country are few and this action of the BCCB will only serve to deprive our country of a very talented cricketer. Bangladesh spent crores of taka to train him to be an all rounder cricketer as he is now. So while punishing, Bangladesh’s own interest in him should not have been completely escaped. If he cannot play in overseas competition for more than one year and banned for not playing even within the country during next six months, what will be left of him to be useful to Bangladesh as cricketer?
The administrators of BCCB are paid money to ensure that the top talent of our country are available to play cricket. There are gentler ways of imposing fines for minor infractions – Shakib could be handed a financial penalty for his transgressions. However the administrators of BCCB should remember that their salaries are paid to ensure that our country plays well and is therefore directly dependent on the quality of players who play matches.
It has become part of the psyche of some using power to show arrogance and arbitrariness. We all must know how to remain sober and fair while exercising authority.
We have all support for maintaining strict discipline, but discipline comes from long supervision by the authority. The rules of discipline must be clearly understood by both sides. The BCCB should also examine its own conduct in expecting discipline among the players.
There is provision for appeal and we expect that when reviewing Shakib’s case, the authority will balance punishment with the cricket team’s own interest in the usefulness of all rounder Shakib. He should be warned in strongest terms, but it is to be seen that he remains useful.
