Trouble mounts for Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, BCB gets legal notice to ban him

Days after naming senior Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan as one of the accused in connection with the alleged murder of garment factory worker Rubel, the lawyers of Rafiqul Islam wrote to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) seeking Hasan's immediate removal from all forms of cricket, reported Cricbuzz.

The former Bangladesh skipper was among 147 people against whom charges have been filed by Rubel's father Rafiqul. Shakib was also a former lawmaker in the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.

Shakib is currently in Pakistan and playing the Test series. In the first Test at Rawalpindi, Najmul Hossain Shanto-led Bangladesh defeated Shan Masood-led Pakistan by 10 wickets. Shakib took 4 wickets in that match and scored 15 runs.

According to details, Shakib's fate is most likely to decided post the Test against Pakistan, which BCB president Faruque Ahmed confirmed too.

Related to Rubel's murder on 7 August, Rafiqul's advocate Md Rafinur Rahman – represented by lawyer Shajib Mahmood Alam, served a legal notice to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) via email and registered post.

The notice mentioned the ICC rules, which stated that a player named in a criminal case cannot participate in the national team.

Among others, the notice even asked the BCB to bring back Shakib home to aid in the murder case investigation, adding, to inform the ICC as well.

BCB chief's response:

The BCB chief acknowledged that they are yet to receive the notice, but assured of a decision before the second Test match against Pakistan on August 30 at Rawalpindi.

"Let me say about Shakib. A case has been lodged. We are yet to get any legal notice. FIR (first information letter) was given in the case and later there will be an investigation and following that, the case will move in one direction or the other," Cricbuzz quoted Faruque as saying after the meeting with board directors at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

"Look, now we are playing a Test match and it is very good news that we have played well on the fourth day. Tomorrow is the fifth day, the deciding day of the Test and I think at this point, we haven't thought about taking a stance. After tomorrow, once the game is over, we will sit and take a decision. By this time, we will also be able to say something about the legal notice as we will have received it by that time," he said.

"Look, the FIR is just the first information letter and they are yet to claim any charge as far as I know, so before that, it is difficult to take a decision. The relationship between BCB and Shakib Al Hasan is like a player and an employer according to the contract. After tomorrow, we can think exactly after getting the legal notice and based on that. I cannot withdraw him from the middle of the Test match," he said.

"The second Test match is from August 30, so there is a gap between the games. During this period, we can think about what can be done in this regard," he added.