Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan loses plot at controversial umpire decision

09 January 2023 , 16:51

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Shakib Al Hasan was furious after the umpire did not call a wide (Image: Twitter/@ESPNcricinfo)

Shakib Al Hasan was involved in a heated moment with the square leg umpire during a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) game after a wide was not given during an over from Rejaur Rahman Raja.

Shakib, who captains Bangadesh in Test and T20I cricket, was representing Fortune Barishal in their opening BPL game against Sylhet Strikers and scored an impressive 67 off just 32 balls.

However, he lost his cool in the 16th over of Barishal's innings when Rejaur delivered a bouncer. After the ball went over his head, Shakib looked towards the square leg umpire and, after realising he had not signalled a wide, he shouted at him before walking over to the official and gesticulating wildly.

"He's not happy, he thinks that should be a wide," one of the commentators said. "Shakib is really, really unhappy about this."

Ultimately, Strikers wicketkeeper and Shakib's long-time international teammate Mushfiqur Rahim was forced to intervene and calm the all-rounder down. Shakib went on to smash the very next ball for six, but his innings ultimately proved to be in vain as the Strikers won the match by six wickets with an over to spare.

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Shakib does have a track record of losing his cool on the field, having kicked the stumps over in a Dhaka Premier League game in 2021 after an lbw appeal was denied and was even hit with a six-month suspension by the Bangladesh Cricket Board in 2014 over his "severe attitude problem".

This latest incident comes after Shakib delivered a scathing critique of the BPL, which is now into its ninth season, calling it a "huge failure of marketing". He said: "If they made me the BPL CEO, it would take me one or two months to correct everything.

"If you want to do something, you can do it in one day. I would do the players' draft and auction [on time] and hold the BPL during a free time. We will have all the modern technologies. There will be quality broadcast and home and away venues.

"I don't see what's stopping us if we have the willingness [to correct things]. If we are willing, I don't see any reason not to have the DRS, the draft or auction not being held three months in advance, or the teams wouldn't be confirmed two months in advance.

"There's no market because we never created the market. If we could have added value to this market, it would have been really big. Cricket is played everywhere in this country, even in remote villages. It is a very popular sport in a country of 160-180 million, so I don't believe there can't be a market for cricket here. It is a huge failure in terms of marketing."

Matthew Cooper