Reports : Shakib al Hassan smashed dressing room glass during Nidahas Trophy
Match referee Chris Broad spoke to the ground staff (and caterers) after the Nidahas Trophy game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Colombo to find the person responsible for the broken glass in the dressing room. Reports suggest that Shakib al Hassan forcefully pushed the door causing the damage.
The Nidahas Trophy produced brilliant cricketing moments throughout the series, but there were moments where the situation was tense and tempers flared high. In one of the biggest talking points of the series, Shakib al Hassan almost called his team off the field. This incident took place in the final group stage game and in the final over of Bangladesh’s chase. With the first two balls being bouncers, Bangladesh felt that the second ball should have been a no-ball but the umpires did not signal it.
When some Bangladeshi substitute players engaged in a verbal duel with Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis, Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh skipper standing near the boundary was fuming. He also angrily suggested his players come off the field. But the umpires intervened to resolve the matter and the game went on.
Bangladesh then went on to clinch the nail-biting game with Mahmudullah sealing the final spot with a match-winning six off the penultimate delivery. However, the controversy was far from over as photos emerged of broken glass panels in Bangladesh cricket team’s pavilion.
ICC match referee Chris Broad investigated the matter and demanded a CCTV footage. However, the footage was rather inconclusive and hence, Broad had to resort to taking help from the ground staff and the caterers.
Broad spoke to the caterers after the game to find the person responsible for the dressing room incident and the reports suggest that the working staff said that Bangladesh skipper Shakib forcefully pushed the door causing the damage.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) fined Shakib 25 percent of his match fee and was also awarded one demerit point for his conduct during the final stages of the game. Bangladesh reserve Nurul Hasan, who was part of the on-field altercation, pleaded guilty to unruly behaviour and was also fined 25 percent of his match fee and awarded one demerit point.
Chris Broad in his ruling said that the two players who were fined definitely went over the board and crossed the line. He also felt that had the fourth umpire not intervened, things could’ve been much worse.
“I understand that it was… 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. 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,” Broad had said while charging the two Bangladesh players.