Fortune Barishal captain Shakib Al Hasan, opener Anamul Haque and Rangpur Riders captain Nurul Hasan were fined 15 per cent of their match fees each for their misconduct during their Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Shakib and Nurul were fined for their part in the drama over who will take first strike for Barishal during their chase and which bowler would open the attack for Rangpur.
Anamul, on the other hand, was penalised for arguing with the on-field umpire after the third umpire upheld the original lbw decision taken against him, which he believed was wrong.
The players accepted that their behaviour was out of line and accepted the misconduct charges laid on them by match referee Akhtar Ahmad.
The first incident occurred at the start of Barishal’s 159-run chase against Rangpur.
Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan was set to open the attack for Rangpur and Barishal’s Chaturanga de Silva was ready to take first strike.
But seeing the left-hander Chaturanga on strike, Rangpur skipper Nurul took the ball from Rakibul and handed it to right-arm off-spinner Mahedi Hasan.
Seeing this change of bowlers, Barishal openers also swapped places, with right-hander Anamul Haque going to the striker’s end.
After that, Rangpur once again gave the ball to Rakibul to open the attack.
Rangpur’s insistence to bowl a left-arm bowler against a right-hander or a right-arm bowler against a left-hander and Barishal’s intention to avoid that anyhow caused all the trouble.
When this drama was taking place at the middle, Shakib stormed in from the dugout and went straight to square leg umpire Gazi Sohel.
As per the rules, Shakib is not allowed to come into the field like that. But that didn’t stop the Barishal captain from getting into a confrontation with the umpire.
The argument continued for around five more minutes. Once Shakib left the field, left-handed Chaturanga took first strike against left-arm spinner Rakibul. In the same over, Chaturanga was dismissed by Rakibul.
The second incident occurred in the fourth over of the chase.
Anamul was hit on the pads and given lbw. But the opener claimed he touched the ball with his bat and reviewed the decision.
The third umpire used the much debated Additional Decision Review System (ADRS) to review the decision and chose to uphold the umpire’s call.
Anamul was infuriated by the decision and hung around to let his displeasure known to the umpires before finally leaving the field furious.
