Only a few people, all around the world, have a name strong enough to represent an entire country and its people. Shakib Al Hasan is one of those few people who have risen from the ordinary and brought Bangladesh Cricket unprecedented success in the international arena. He is the best all rounder that this generation of cricket has seen across all formats. No one has sat at the top more than Shakib in the past 8 years.
Shakib had just returned home from England after his brilliant performance in ICC World Cup 2019 when his name was smeared in the international media. He was banned from international cricket for two years for not informing ICC’s anti corruption unit (ACU) about the times he was approached by bookmakers. Shakib’s punishment can be reduced down to a year of ban if he does not violate other codes of conduct and undertakes anti corruption training and rehabilitation as suggested by ICC. This would see him return to the game in October 29, 2020.
Shakib was approached by a bookmaker named Deepak Agarwal. They first talked in November 2017 during the ongoing BPL season. Shakib was asked to provide with inside information of the team he was playing for. He was then approached in January 2018 during an ongoing tri-nation series and later that year in April.
ACU contacted Shakib for investigating his alleged involvement in match fixing in January and later in April this year. After extensive interrogation and investigation, it has been concluded that Shakib was not involved in match fixing but his inability to provide ACU with the information that he was approached by bookkeepers is seen as a minor crime as per codes of conduct of ICC. Therefore, ealrlier this year, Shakib was banned from international cricket. Shakib was prompt to apologize. He, on a press conference, said that he bears full responsibility of the consequences of his action and that he would not appeal against the decision. Prime Minister of Bangladesh and BCB Chairman promised to stand by Shakib.
Shakib’s punishment could have been even stricter. The mitigating factors that saw him getting banned for two years and not more were four in number. Firstly, Shakib has cooperated with ACU before in 2008 when another bookmaker then approached him. Shakib promised to cooperate with the organization this time around as well. Secondly, he was quick to admit his mistake and decided not to fight legal battles. Thirdly, Shakib has always complied with ICC rules and has been a disciplined athlete on and off the field as per ICC’s code of conduct. Lastly and most importantly, Shakib’s mistakes did not lead to the outcomes of the games in question to be altered or tempered in any way. However, the aggravating factor of the punishment was that he was aware of ACU’s requirements and he was the captain of his national team. This made Shakib Al Hasan even more accountable and culpable.
According to the ACU’s current laws, Shakib’s punishments are justified but there is a widespread disagreement on whether the current laws are fair or not and there are multiple reasons for it. The current structure of ACU relies heavily on the goodwill of athletes for the information on bookkeepers and match fixers. Furthermore, it asks players to provide full description of conversations with bookkeepers which is often not possible because it is difficult to recall from memory or provide evidence of such interactions. Lastly, it assigns disproportionate amount of punishment to players like Shakib who have not fixed matches but rather have not disclosed interactions with bookkeepers. It is a duty of a governing body to respect and protect honest stakeholders. According to many, ICC is not doing that in the status quo.
Cricket fans really do not care about the laws and implications at this point. They just want to welcome back their prince as soon as possible.
Al Wasee M Fahimuddaula
Executive editor