Shakib, Nurul fined following Friday fracas

Tuesday, 20 March 2018 00:13 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and reserve player Nurul Hasan have been fined 25% of their match fees and handed one demerit point each for code of conduct breaches during Friday’s ill-tempered Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka.

Ugly scenes unfolded during the closing stages of Bangladesh’s successful run chase when play was briefly halted as the tourists remonstrated about two shoulder-high balls at the start of an eventful final over from Isuru Udana.

A furious Shakib was seen gesturing from the boundary to batsmen Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain to come off the field after the second bouncer was not called a no-ball.

Nurul, who had entered the playing area carrying a team message, was seen pointing at Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera. Shakib was found guilty of “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”, while Nurul displayed “conduct that brings the game into disrepute”, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement on Saturday.

Mahmudullah smashed a six off Udana’s fifth delivery to secure a thrilling two-wicket victory for Bangladesh and a place in Sunday’s tri-series final against India.

“Friday’s incidents were disappointing as you don’t want to see such player behaviour during any level of cricket,” match referee Chris Broad said.

“I understand that it was a tense and an edge-of-the-seat match with a place in the final on the line, but the actions of the two players were unacceptable and cannot be condoned as they clearly went overboard. “Had the fourth umpire not stopped Shakib and the fielders remonstrating, and then the on-field umpires not intervened between Nurul and Thisara, things could have become worse.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) later issued an apology for the incident, accepting that their players did not display the “expected level of professionalism” in a tense situation.

“The BCB regrets the unfortunate happenings during Friday’s match... The Board accepts that conduct of the Bangladesh team in certain instances was unacceptable on a cricket field,” BCB said in a statement on the ICC website (www.icc-cricket.com).

“We understand that the events may have transpired due to the importance of the match and the pressure that comes with it but feel the expected level of professionalism was not exhibited by the team while dealing with a tense situation in the game.”

BCB said it had reminded the players of their responsibility in upholding the spirit of cricket at all times.

“The BCB and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have a lasting bond which has a deep-rooted history of support and cooperation and the players of both sides continue to share an excellent relationship that gets stronger by the day.”