Star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan created controversy yet again as he entered the field from the dressing room and stopped the start of the second innings of the Bangladesh Premier League's day match between Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Tuesday.
Shakib is the captain of the Barishal team.
The incident happened during the start of the second innings where Barishal openers took guard in pursuit of 159.
Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan came on to bowl for Rangpur initially.
But when Barishal's left-arm batter Chaturanga de Silva prepared to face the first ball Rangpur captain Nurul Hasan gave the ball to off-spinner Mahedi Hasan.
Seeing that, Anamul Haque came to striking end instead of De Silva and then the argument took place.
From the press box it was seen that the two batsmen, Anamul and De Silva, were talking with the umpires as the start was delayed for few minutes.
Later Barishal skipper Shakib was seen in the boundary rope, looking upset and trying to tell something to the batters at the crease.
He went on to enter the field, walked towards the pitch and had an argument with both the umpires.
Shakib seemed really upset and at one stage it appeared he was telling the batsmen to come outside.
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But eventually the umpires managed to cool the situation down and Shakib then left the field.
Shakib was at the field for about four-five minutes.
One thing is clear, Shakib or any other player from the batting team should not enter the field and stop play in this manner without taking permission in a proper way from match officials.
Barishal team management gave a statement almost immediately regarding the issue when the game resumed and it stated:
“As per rules batsmen take the strike after seeing which bowler will start the bowling. In this regard Shakib wanted De Silva to take strike when Mahedi came to bowl. But umpires were not giving the permission to De Silva to take strike. That's why Shakib went to the field to talk with the umpires.”
Following the game, Barishal all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz said, “Yes, he talked with the umpire. But he first talked with the (fourth) umpire, and the captain can may as well enter the field.
“We also wanted to take advantage, so did they. Maybe Sohan bhai was fooling around at that time.”
Nurul said, “I saw Shakib bhai shout from the boundary rope, so I also changed the bowler.
“Of course I want our best bowler to bowl to their best batsman. If you talk about the wicket, one side adjacent to it is bigger and the other smaller. Mahedi is our best bowler, let him bowl to the left-hander, and Rakibul to the right-hander. I think this is absolutely fair. The thing that happened, maybe it eventually led to tomfoolery at one stage. You need to do whatever it takes for the team, within the rules, everyone will try their best.
“The umpire should have cleared it first. Umpire didn't say anything. It would have ended early had the umpire talked. When the umpire talked to me, I didn't argue. Whatever the batsmen wanted, they got their way. They did what was right.”
