ICC Anti-Corruption Security Unit’s presence in Dhaka for the last few days has shaken Bangladesh’s cricket. The eruption of spot-fixing in India had earlier raised fear that the storm might hit Dhaka as well and it did strike. The two-member ACSU team, who left the capital yesterday, revealed that they were here to investigate a couple of matches of Bangladesh Premier League’s second edition. Officials and players of two-time champions Dhaka Gladiators, Chittagong Kings and Barisal Burners were called for questioning and ACSU will submit the their reports to ICC very soon. It was learnt that Gladiators willingly lost a match each to the Kings and the Burners after they had confirmed the semi-final spot in the tournament last year. Mohammad Ashraful was the stand-in captain in both the matches as regular skipper Masharfe bin Mortaza was benched for unknown reason. Losing was not the matter that raised concerns, but it was the manner in which they approached in those matches. The Bangladesh Cricket Board was well aware of ACSU’s presence and also helped them with adequate information where needed. Acting CEO of the Board Nizamuddin Chowdhury was in continuous support of the process. The investigation was kept silent until BCB ad-hoc committee member Gazi Ashraf Lipu revealed it to the media. The former national cricketer thinks that the investigation should be known to all and that the information from the media could also come to the help of the investigation. ACSU members questioned most of the cricketers of the champion team, but could not get hold of Gladiators’ owner Salim Chowdhury, who was out of the country and returned only on Thursday. However, Salim denied anything related to the ACSU and said he was not asked to meet them. “This came in as a surprise to us. The issue is very serious and we are ready to help the investigation in every way possible. Our franchise has zero-tolerance to activities which is making the game dirty,” said Salim to Dhaka Tribune yesterday. He further informed that if necessary the franchise will have separate investigation to find the truth. A private security firm will be hired if needed. Meanwhile it was learnt that the two times BPL champions have called up the local players, who met the ACSU, of the team to learn better of the issue.
Sunday, March 16, 2025
