Fans stand up for disgraced captain

MUM: OUT FOR A YEAR FOR NOT REPORTING SKULDUGGERY

Cricket Council finds Bangladeshi Shakib breached anti-corruption code.

Dhaka

Hundreds of people staged a demonstration in the Bangladeshi town of Magura yesterday, against a two-year ban on cricket captain Shakib al Hasan for not declaring attempts to bribe him.

The ban was announced on Tuesday by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which suspended one year of the punishment after Shakib “accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code”.

Shakib, 32, made a public appeal for support after being banned, unleashing a flood of angry anti-ICC social media posts from his fans.

Police said about 700 people took to the streets in Shakib’s hometown, demanding the ICC revoke the ban which came on the eve of Bangladesh’s departure for a tour of India.

Magura’s police chief Saiful Islam said: “The protesters shouted slogans and marched along a highway. They also formed a human chain as part of their action against the ICC decision.”

Protesters carried placards saying that Shakib was the victim of a “conspiracy”.

Smaller protests were held in the capital Dhaka, police said.

The Test and Twenty20 captain accepted charges that he had failed to disclose details of approaches made over a tri-nation series between Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2018 as well as the 2018 Indian Premier League.

Shakib will be eligible to return from October 29 next year but is ruled out of the T20 World Cup which starts on October 8.

“Those who have supported me over the years, I hope they ... will continue to support me in my bad and good time,” Shakib said after the ban was announced.

“I am hopeful I will come back to cricket soon. I will be stronger and will perform my responsibilities with more sincerity,” he said.

Shakib, who has played 56 Tests, 206 one-day internationals and 76 T20 internationals, is Bangladesh’s biggest sporting hero and has regularly topped the ICC rankings for all-rounders since 2009.

At this year’s World Cup in England, Shakib scored more than 600 runs and picked up 11 wickets. He also became the fastest cricketer to reach 5 000 runs and 250 wickets in ODIs.

Shakib has stepped down from the MCC World Cricket committee. –