What’s the story?

Bangladesh’s ODI and T20I captain, Shakib Al Hasan has been banned from international cricket for two years, with one year of the sentence being suspended currently. The left-handed batsman has been slapped with the punishment after being found guilty of not reporting bookie approaches to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

The ban has come into effect immediately, meaning that the star all-rounder will take no part in the Tigers’ upcoming tour to India.

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Reports had emerged over the past couple of days with a leading Bangladesh daily quoting that Shakib had been under the ICC’s scanner for his failure to inform the apex body about offers he had received from malicious elements. Consequently, it had been reported that that was the main cause of his absence from Bangladesh’s practice matches in the build-up to the series against India.

The heart of the matter

Shakib has been found guilty of violating Article 2.4.4 of the ACU code which states,

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 all-rounder had done so on three separate occasions. The initial couple of instances came about in a tri-series involving Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in January 2018 when Shakib had been approached twice for indulging in malpractices.

A few months later, another advance was made during the 2018 IPL with the game in question being the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI fixture on the 26th of April, 2018.

Shakib will have to undergo the first year of his sentence without partaking in any form of international cricket whereas his punishment for the second year could be reduced if he refrains from committing any offence under the ACU Code during his mandatory one-year ban. Additionally, he also has to participate in regular anti-corruption education and/or rehabilitation programmes that would be conducted.

On being asked about the suspension, the all-rounder quipped that he was extremely sad to have been banned from the game but that he completely accepted the treatment meted out to him. He elaborated that the ICC ACU was reliant on players to help them in tackling corruption and that he had failed on that count.