It is reliably learnt that the ICC is worried at two separate developments involving cricketers from India and Bangladesh.
New Delhi: The Dubai-based International Cricket Council (ICC), the controlling body for world cricket, is keeping an eye on two serious developments that have caused some face-palm moments for cricketers in South Asia.
It is reliably learnt that the ICC is, justifiably, worried at two separate developments involving cricketers from India and neighbouring Bangladesh.
“Some clarity is needed from these two cricket boards,” a senior ICC source told this reporter.
So, what were the incidents? In India, Chetan Sharma, chairman of the national selection committee was caught in a sting conducted by a news channel saying some of the top Indian cricketers regularly doped to prove their fitness and that there were no checks and balances in the team management.
Sharma resigned voluntarily on Friday, 17 February 2023, after the sting caused him irreparable damage. His resignation was accepted by BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Sharma’s exit leaves the Indian selection panel comprising Salil Ankola, S.S. Das, Subroto Banerjee and S. Sharath with the BCCI yet to appoint a new chairman.
Sharma had said many things, among them was something that was doing the rounds in the cricket circles for a long time but no one had made it public, especially someone from the BCCI.
But Sharma spilled the beans during the sting when he said there were serious differences between former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli, as a result Kohli had to step down as skipper from the team.
The ICC, it is reliably learnt, will not interfere in the internal issues of the BCCI but would seriously probe doping charges levelled by Sharma.
Sharma’s outburst, claim those in the know in Indian cricket circles, has caused tremendous embarrassment to the world’s richest cricket board.
Now, once the sting was aired, Sharma’s position as chairman of national selection committee has become untenable. However, sources say the BCCI might give him a chance to defend himself before taking a final decision on his fate. The immediate question doing the rounds in the BCCI is whether he would be allowed to attend the next selection committee meeting before the India squad is picked for the third and fourth Test against Australia.
It is clear that Sharma’s outburst has not gone down too well with the BCCI top brass. The bigger question is whether the players would want to have any engagement with Sharma. Worse, it could have a far-reaching impact on the relationship between the media on one hand and the Indian team and selectors on the other. The Press Trust of India quoted a top BCCI source as saying no player or selector would be comfortable talking to reporters after this sting.
Sharma will explain his position soon. Ashish Shelar, BCCI Honorary Treasurer, has informed reporters that the BCCI will soon explain its position about the incident, and also on the future of Sharma.
If this was not enough, the second incident that raised eyebrows within the ICC was a spot-fixing allegation involving women cricketers of Bangladesh.
The news, expectedly, shook Dhaka and the cricketing world of Bangladesh.
It all started when Shohely Akhter, a former national player, was accused of proposing one of the national team players to spot-fix. The conversation went viral and shocked officials of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Shohely immediately offered her side of the story, she told the cricket officials that she had merely challenged her teammate as part of proving the honesty of the latter, following an altercation with an acquaintance whom she knew through Facebook.
But it did not cut much ice. Shohely, it was alleged, was in the thick of the storm. Shohely, who made her last international appearance for Bangladesh in Asia Cup T20 at Sylhet last year, proposed to Lata Mandal, a member of the national team, to spot fix. The offer was a sum of Bangladeshi Taka 2-2.5 million if Lata gets out stumping or hits a wicket.
But Lata informed the team about it and the management, in turn, conveyed the development to the anti-corruption unit of ICC. Shohely declined to comment to reporters in Dhaka as the matter is under investigation.
Lata did not play the match against Australia and she was stumped for 11 off 13 balls during Bangladesh’s opening game against Sri Lanka.
“ACSU contacted me. I was told not to talk about it with anybody or the media so I don’t want to disclose anything now,” Shohely told Prothom Alo, Bangladesh’s top Bengali daily.
Many theories started floating once the news triggered breaking headlines. The Bengali daily said Shohely told a confidant that she had offered Lata the cash as part of accomplishing a challenge. The daily said Shohely came to know a young man named Akash during the Asia Cup last October and “the latter said to her that he thinks many players of Bangladesh Women Team are involved with fixing. This is the reason they often lose matches from winning positions”.
Shohely protested and asked Akash, claimed the daily, how he was so sure about Bangladeshi women cricketers. And it was then the idea of the challenge surfaced and an offer was made to Lata through a voice message.
Shohely, 34, made her debut both in ODI and T20I in 2013, has so far played two ODIs and five T20Is within 2014. After a hiatus of eight years, she returned to the national team for the World Cup qualifiers in 2022. She played five matches in qualifiers and three matches in Asia Cup.
It is clear that the voice message she sent to Lata will be considered as an offer of fixing by ACSU. Shohely has told her friends, claim newspapers in Dhaka, that she hopes screenshots of her chats with Akash will reveal her true motives, and that the ICC will believe she did it just to challenge Akash.
Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel, chairman of the BCB’s women’s wing, does not want to comment even though he, claim sources, is on top of the scandal. “We don’t have anything else to do here. ACSU will investigate now. We will definitely help if anything’s needed,” Nadel has told reporters.