Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been banned from the game for two years, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
The Bangladesh Test and T20I captain has been handed a full ban for a year and a 12-month suspended sentence. It will keep him out of next year's Indian Premier League (IPL) and also the World T20 to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15 the same year.
Two years ago, Shakib received an offer from a bookie before an international match, which he did not report to the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). "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 is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn't do my duty in this instance," Shakib said in a media release of the ICC.
Shakib was spoken to by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit in January and August this year and he failed to report the approaches made to him by "an individual known to the ACU and suspected of involvement in corruption in cricket, Deepak Aggarwal."
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The ICC said Aggarwal had asked Shakib to provide information on team composition and strategy on three separate occasions, one of them being April 26, 2018, when his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad were to take on Kings XI Punjab. Sunrisers won the game by 13 runs.
"These messages on 26 April 2018 included a number of deleted messages. He confirmed that these deleted messages contained requests from Mr Aggarwal for Inside Information," the ICC stated.
Aggarwal's other two approaches were during the Bangladesh Premier League when Shakib was playing for Dhaka Dynamites in 2017, followed by the tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in January 2018.
Aggarwal, the ICC said, wanted to meet Shakib but the cricketer didn't oblige as "he had concerns over Mr Aggarwal, feeling he was a bit 'dodgy', and that, following their conversations, he had the feeling that Mr Aggarwal was a bookie," it added.
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There has been uncertainty over Shakib's availability for the India assignments after he missed the pre-tour camp, including a practice game, in Mirpur.
The squad is set to leave for India on Wednesday.
In his absence, senior-most player Mushfiqur Rahim might lead the team in Tests while one among Mahmudullah Riyadh and Mosaddek Hosain is set to be the skipper in the three T20 Internationals.
Bangladesh begin their India tour with the three T20Is, starting on November 3, before heading to Indore to kick off their World Test Championship campaign from November 14.
The second Test at Eden Gardens begins from November 22.
Shakib recently spearheaded a players' strike before calling it off after the BCB assured that their demands, including a pay hike, will be fulfilled.
(With PTI inputs)
