Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has been banned from all cricket for two years, with 12 months suspended, by the International Cricket Council after accepting three anti-corruption charges.
The charges cover not reporting approaches in relation to the Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe Tri-Series during 2018 as well as the Indian Premier League.
The ICC confirmed if Shakib satisfied the conditions of the suspended part of the sanction, he would be free to resume international cricket on October 29 2020.
Shakib said in a statement: “I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches.
“The ICC ACU (anti-corruption unit) is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.
“Like the majority of players and fans around the world, I want cricket to be a corruption free sport and I am looking forward to working with the ICC ACU team to support their education programme and ensure young players don’t make the same mistake I did.”
ICC’s anti-corruption general manager Alex Marshall maintained responsibility rested with Shakib for not reporting the matter.
“Shakib Al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the code. He should have reported each of these approaches,” Marshall said in a statement.
“Shakib has accepted his errors and co-operated fully with the investigation. He has offered to assist the Integrity Unit in future education, to help younger players to learn from his mistakes. I am happy to accept this offer.”
Bangladesh are set to tour India in November, with an announcement of the Test squad yet to be confirmed.
Shakib, 32, had missed Bangladesh training sessions over the past few days, with no official reason given for his absence.
Shakib made his international debut in 2006 and has been a mainstay of the Bangladesh side ever since, making 338 appearances across all three formats. The Twenty20 squad was set to leave this week ahead of an opening match in Delhi on November 3.
The all-rounder was a star of the summer’s World Cup, finishing as the third-highest run-scorer in the competition with 606 runs – which lifted him up to ninth on the list of all-time runs scored at the tournament.
He also became the only player in World Cup history to make 600 runs and claim 10 wickets in the same tournament.
Assuming Shakib satisfies the suspended period criteria, his ban will end midway through next year’s T20 World Cup.
The tournament in Australia begins on November 18 2020, with Shakib set to miss the first round matches as well as the opening games of the Super 12 round – if Bangladesh qualify from their group.
