Shakib, Nurul fined, get demerit point for breaching code of conduct in Sri Lanka match

The International Cricket Council or ICC has punished Bangladesh T20 Captain Shakib Al Hasan and reserve player Nurul Hasan for breaching the code of conduct in separate incidents during Friday’s match against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Shakib’s conduct was ‘contrary to the spirit of the game’, while Nurul was found guilty of ‘bringing the game into disrepute’, according to ICC.

The duo was fined 25 percent of their match fees and received 1 demerit point each, the ICC announced on Saturday.

This is the first demerit point for both players since the system was launched in 2016.

In the last over of the nail-biting fight for the remaining spot in the Nidahas Trophy tri-nation tournament final at R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, the Tigers were unhappy that Isuru Udana's second straight bouncer was not called a no-ball.

The square-leg umpire apparently stretched his arm to signal a no-ball, but eventually, it was deemed a legal delivery once Mustafizur Rahman was out.

High drama followed as Shakib stormed out near the boundary rope and called his players off the field, which, if they had obliged, would mean Bangladesh were forfeiting the match and getting disqualified.

But better sense prevailed as manager Khaled Mahmud Sujan intervened and the team decided to carry on with the game.

There was to be more fracas later on as Bangladesh's substitutes and Sri Lanka's fielders were having a run-in.

Finally, Mahmudullah capped off the tension, hitting the winning six to set up a Bangladesh-Indian final on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, both Shakib and Nurul pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by Referee Chris Broad and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing, the ICC wrote in a media release.

“Friday’s incidents were disappointing as you don’t want to see such player behaviour at any level of cricket. I understand that it was a tense and an edge-of-the-seat match with a place in the final on the line, but the actions of the two players were unacceptable and cannot be condoned as they clearly went overboard,” it quoted Broad as saying.

“Had the fourth umpire not stopped Shakib and the fielders remonstrating, and then the on-field umpires not intervened between Nurul and Thisara, things could have become worse,” he added.