Mumbai: The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is in limelight once again, albeit for the wrong reasons. The league came under the scrutiny for match fixing after one of the Rangpur Riders’ players alleged that team manager Sanuar Hossain was trying to bribe him to fix some matches.
And after the match fixing allegations, came the news about the
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) penalising two national team players for what it called “serious” breaches of discipline after they had reportedly entertained female guests in their hotel rooms when the league was still going.
While the news of Rangpur Riders’ Afghanistan cricketer Mohammad Shahzad being suspended for two matches and fined 30 percent of his match fee after he tried to assault Rajshahi Kings’ Sabbir Rahman with the bat during their Bangladesh Premier League 2016-17 season match in Mirpur last Monday hadn’t yet died, comes another controversy.
In a statement given by BCB on Tuesday seamer, Al-Amin Hossain and batsman Sabbir Rahman were both fined around $15,000 for “serious off-field disciplinary breaches” during the BPL. In a statement BCB said, “The players have been reminded of their responsibility as national cricketers and have been warned that any repetition of similar acts of indiscretion in the future will result in harsher penalty.”
Mohammad Ashraful (Image credit: Indian Express)
For the match fixing issue, the board said, “The BCB is investigating complaints lodged by a cricketer of BPL 2016 franchise Rangpur Riders against an official of the same team…The BCB recognises that the allegations and counter allegations brought forward by the player and the official concerned, which includes breach of discipline and corrupt practice, are of serious nature.”
BPL has had to face match-fixing allegations in the past. In 2014, the tournament was suspended for a year when former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful, and four others, including New Zealand’s Lou Vincent, were found guilty of fixing matches during the tournament.
And with the new allegations,it remains to be seen, how the board reacts and takes strict actions against the guilty.