Shakib Al Hasan urges fans to stay calm until his return from suspension

Bangladesh cricket has been blessed with a number of special talents over the years owing to which their cricket has grown leaps and bounds. But it can be said without any inhibition that Shakib Al Hasan has been the greatest of them all, at least going by the numbers at the highest level. He has been playing for the Tigers for over a decade and has garnered a number of laurels.

The Jessore-born was one of the key performers for Bangladesh in the 2019 World Cup where he piled heaps of runs and also contributed with some timely wickets. Despite his side’s exit before the semi-finals, the southpaw was greeted with a lot of appreciation. However, luck hasn’t favoured the all-rounder of late as he had to face a suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Shakib’s career comes to a halt

The apex cricket board slapped him with a backdated two-year suspension. The 32-year-old can now return to the cricket field after October 29, 2020 when his ban ends. The veteran Shakib breached the ICC’s Code of Conduct as many as three times. He was approached by a bookie, named Deepak Aggarwal, and Shakib failed to report the matter to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit.

One of the instances came during the 2018 IPL where he played for SRH. He accepted the charges and now will work with the ACU team in its programme to ensure that other youngsters don’t make the same mistake. His name was also withdrawn from the tour of India where he was the T20I and Test skipper. Mahmudullah and Mominul Haque were given the captaincy roles.

After Shakib’s new broke out, a number of their fans gathered in front of the BCB headquarters and protested ICC’s decision. Shakib also got slammed for not being vigilant enough. Lately, the BCB has said that the board will look to resort to some legal procedures in order to lessen Shakib’s ban.

If that happens then he may also play the T20 World Cup in Australia next year. In the meantime, Shakib shared a Facebook post where he urged the fans to stay calm until his return. He also appreciated people for trying to offer help and he’s now focussed to return on the field of play.

Here is Shakib Al Hasan’s post