Shakib and Nurul fined for breaching ICC Code of Conduct in separate incidents

Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by 02 wickets yesterday (March 16) to book their place in the finals of the Nidahas Trophy T20 Tournament, where they will face India. Yesterday's game was delayed for a few minutes during the final over, following a verbal confrontation between players. It was all down to the last over, and Isuru Udana's first 02 deliveries were short-pitched leading the Bangladesh Cricketers to take the issue with the umpire for not signaling the second one as no-ball because of height. Meanwhile, Bangladesh's reserve player Nurul Hasan sprinted inside the field of play with drinks and got into a verbal argument with Sri Lankan Skipper Thisara Perera. Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, who seemed agitated by the turn of events decided to call his batsmen back to the pavilion. The umpires intervened to diffuse the situation, and a six by Mahmadullah in the penultimate delivery sealed the win for Bangladesh. However, there was an uneasy situation on the field when the players were returning back to the dressing room. The BBC Sinhala Service reported the door of the Bangladesh dressing room was shattered when they were celebrating the thrilling win over the home team. The BBC quoting ground security says the door was damaged by the players. The International Cricket Council announced today (March 17), Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan and reserve player Nurul Hasan have both been fined 25% of their match fees and also received one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct in separate incidents during their side’s Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka. This was the first time one demerit point either player has had since the system came into effect on 22 September 2016. If a player is subject to three or more demerit points during a period of one year, the player will receive a match ban. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has issued a statement accepting that the conduct of their players overstepped the mark and conceding that both were rightfully penalized. The statement read, “The BCB regrets the unfortunate incidents during Friday’s (March 16) Nidahas Trophy match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and it accepts the conduct of the Bangladesh team in certain instances was unacceptable on a cricket field”.