Shahadat Hossain Returns To Competitive Cricket After BCB Reduces His Ban On Emotional Grounds

Bangladesh pacer Shahadat Hossain has been granted clemency of sorts after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) agreed to reduce his ban on his plea for the same and has returned to competitive cricket. He was initially banned for a period of five years but was allowed to come back after serving 18 months of his ban.

The 34-year-old pacer was first banned in November 2019 for five years after slapping his teammate during a first-class match. However after his heartfelt appeal and apology in March this year, the BCB has decided to cut short his punishment he returned to action playing the Dhaka Premier Division match on Saturday, June 5.

Reason Behind Shahadat Hossain’s 5-Year Ban

In November of 2019, Shahadat Hossain was found guilty of assaulting his teammate while playing in a National Cricket League (NCL) game in Khulna. He had slapped Arafat Sunny Jr during a match in Khulna after he had allegedly refused to shine the ball and this didn’t go too well with the senior bowler who could not control his emotions and slapped him.

Those who saw the incident said it needed the Dhaka players’ intervention to restrain Hossain. His actions amounted to a Level 4 offence and he was handed a fine of BDT 100,000 (USD 1200 approx.) by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

The 34-year-old, who played 38 Tests, 51 ODIs, and 6 T20Is for the national side, hasn’t played for Bangladesh since the 2015 Dhaka Test against Pakistan.

Shahadat Allowed To Return Back Due To Family’s Financial Crisis

Shahadat had apologized for his behavior in Feb-March and said that he wanted to return to cricket to get some funds for his mother’s treatment.

“I regret my actions. I was wrong, and I will try not to do it again. I won’t have any problem for the rest of my career. My mother is a cancer patient. I want to return to cricket, to help my mother’s treatment,” the 34-year-old spoke at a press conference.

Therefore the BCB has taken cognizance of the same and allowed him to return back to competitive cricket.

“He is facing a lot of problems in his family. His mother is diagnosed with cancer. He is not playing cricket now, so when he called me, I spoke to a few directors. We have requested the BCB’s disciplinary committee. We are hopeful to get a positive result from them. I have also informed the board president, who is also positive about him. Insha Allah, we hope that he can play in the NCL,” said BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Akram Khan to The Daily Star today.

The 34-year-old pacer remained wicketless, conceding 16 in his two overs, in a game where his side was thrashed by 10 wickets by Old DOHS.

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