Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will support Shakib Al Hassan in every possible way, including letting the ace all-rounder use its facilities for practice upon clearance from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Last week, the governing body of cricket banned Shakib from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the anti-corruption code.
Speaking at a discussion organised by Bangla Tribune on Saturday (Nov 2), BCB Director Mahbub Anam said, “In this one year, he has to be part of anti-corruption programs under the ICC and BCB. Besides that, for him to come in form, he needs to practice sessions to maintain fitness. He is aware of it and has been planning that way. It can be abroad or at home but he has to use a public facility”.
Referring to one of the clauses in the ICC section, Anam, who serves as the chairman of the BCB grounds committee, said the board will need to clearly understand it before coming to a decision on this.
“It is mentioned in the sanction that he cannot use facilities that are under the BCB or affiliated with the BCB. It has been mentioned in the sanction [referred in the clause]. As a board we will have to maintain this clause as not following it will harm Shakib,” the BCB director added.
He was echoed BCB Director Kazi Inam Ahmed.
He, however, added the BCB will try to understand the clause involving the legal team, and also check with the ICC for a clear indication on the matter.
“We can check this clause with our legal team and also communicate with the ICC to get a clear note on this. Like in Australia or England or other countries, there are standard cricket facilities outside the board which players can use. But that's not the case here in Dhaka," said Ahmed told the discussion held at Bangla Tribune offices.
As per the ICC, Shakib was banned as he failed to report to the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit of several approaches from Deepak Aggarwal, an alleged corruptor who was seeking inside information.