Mohammad Shahzad suspended by Afghanistan Cricket Board, further sanctions awaited

Afghanistan Cricket Board has released a statement which proclaimed that Mohammad Shahzad has failed to take the Board’s permission before travelling outside of the country which is a must as per its policies. Hence, he has been handed an indefinite suspension and the disciplinary committee will hold a meeting post the Eid holidays to discuss further action.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the cricketer is based permanently in Peshawar, Pakistan where he was spotted practicing a few days ago. Only last year, his country’s cricketing board had offered him a stern warning saying that his contract would be permanently terminated if he did not relocate to his home country. The wicketkeeper batsman was also fined for the same. 

The release also stated that the Board had called upon Shahzad to meet the disciplinary committee on the 20th and 25th of July  "in relation to a disciplinary matter during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019", but the 31 year old didn’t turn up.

The right-handed opener had been in the headlines earlier too after he had been picked in the squad for the cricketing extravaganza in London. However, in the middle of the tournament, he was shown the door and replaced, with the Board stating that the player had sustained a knee injury. Interestingly, Shahzad had claimed he is completely fit to play and the Board had been conspiring against him in an attempt to exclude him from the team.

Shahzad is one of the country’s most successful players with nearly 5,000 international runs across all three formats. However, he has a history of disciplinary issues, having been suspended and fined by ICC as well as other cricketing bodies multiple times. A refugee like most of his teammates, Shahzad spent his formative years in Peshawar and the player’s reaction on the matter is awaited.