Nadeem Qadir;

Since crisis hit the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) over number of issues, the main news that saddened all the sports lovers at home and abroad was that Shakib al-Hasan was out of the much-awaited India tour. But, former BCB chief Saber Hossain Chowdhury, who has been tweeting his opinions, believed that “timely act” could have seen the all-round international star making the trip.

“I think, since the BCB board knew about Shakib’s problem, they could have acted in time to allow him to go on the India tour,” Chowdhury, a lawmaker of the ruling Awami League, said on Saturday.

He added:”Had the BCB announced the team before his punishment was announced then the ICC might have held back or considered Shakib’s tour of India.”

Asked to elaborate, Chowdhury said BCB definitely knew well ahead, at least its own Anti-Corruption Unit, that it was imminent Shakib would be punished for his violation of rules and thus announcing the India tour team quickly could put the Bangladesh side more confident in matches with India.

“On the 22nd October press conference it was clear from his (Nazmul Hasan Papon, the BCB chief) statement that he also knew as he kept on saying ‘wait more things are coming’” he pointed out.

ICC, Chowdhury added had contacted the Indian Cricket Board on the issue and it was very unlikely they did not do so with the BCB. “ICC had given amnesty to Sri Lanka players sometime ago …. They were very likely to do so with Shakib if it was pursued and the board was pro-active.”

Shakib has committed an offence and he has to face the consequences but the BCB could have adviced him as they by all means knew what was happening, he said, adding that now Bangladesh would be without its international start in next year’s World T20I, which was a “bad impact on cricket.”

The ICC has banned Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan from all cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

He was charged for failing to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in Corrupt Conduct – in relation to the Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe Tri-Series in January 2018 and / or the 2018 IPL.

Failure to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in Corrupt Conduct – in relation to a second approach in respect of the Tri-Series in January 2018.

And the failure to disclose to the ACU full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in Corrupt Conduct – in relation to an IPL 2018 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab on 26 April 2018.

Asked what would happen in today’s match in New Delhi, Chowdhury replied with a low voice:”Of course we all want Bangladesh to win, our boys to shine but we now have to wait and see.”

The man who was behind Bangladeshi cricket’s rise, told this correspondent the “situation was now very, very shaky as without Shakib we have none like him in the pipeline … thus it was important to focus on finding new faces by organizing effective domestic cricket.”

Chowdhury stressed that who matter was not about Shakib or BCB chief Nazmul Hasan Papon, but it was “urgent to correct the structure and integrity of the BCB… structure is important as the president one is not conducive for cricket and functioning of the BCB … Shakib will return to active cricket and whether a change of top man was needed or not will be decided by the board.”

“The constitution was changed in 2013 following which troubles started apparently.”

People, he said lost “confidence” in the BCB as it was “non-performing” and its members put “personal interest before cricket’s interest, which is very unfortunate.”

“We have to ensure that institutionalised match-fixing is totally uprooted, no member of the board will be involved in businesses like purchase or construction linked to the BCB, which is a conflict of interest and make sure umpires are influence-free regarding matches.”

Asked would he like to take the reign of Bangladesh cricket again – Chowdhury made no comment.