Sabbir, Nasir and Mosaddek called for disciplinary committee hearing

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Thursday (August 30) that they have called three cricketers – Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain – for a hearing on their disciplinary issues on September 1.

President Nazmul Hasan confirmed that the board has decided to take sterner action this time against cricketers who have been reported on disciplinary grounds.

In July, Sabbir was alleged to have abused a fan on social media leading to his omission from the Asia Cup squad. Sabbir had also assaulted a fan during a first-class match in Rajshahi last year in December. He was stripped off his national contract, fined TK. 20 lakh and was handed a banned from domestic cricket for six months.

Prior to Sabbir’s incident, Nasir Hossain was pulled up by his alleged partner Shah Humayra Suba who made public one of their personal conversations on the social media. If BCB wasn’t already uncomfortable with the recent developments, Mosaddek Hossain’s wife lodging a complaint against her husband for divorce due to alleged dowry trouble, has left them with more woes.

“They are called for a hearing on September 1. They need to have a chance for self defence, so we called [for] the hearing and after hearing their side of the story, we will take a decision in this regard. The [disciplinary committee] will certainly take required steps.”

Reports of indiscipline have surfaced quite frequently in recent times and BCB are leaving no stone unturned this time to ensure there’s no recurrence by handing out sterner punishments. “They were punished but it seems they are not listening and if that is the case we need to take stern action,” said Nazmul. “For me the biggest punishment is stripping them from the national team and if someone is not allowed to play in the national team what big punishment can he receive.”

According to BCB sources, Sabbir is expected to receive a six-month ban from international cricket. This is not the first time Sabbir has got himself involved though.

Nazmul also added that BCB is considering appointing a psychologist to educate the players on off-field behavior apart from coming up with an agreement that will have specific guidelines on the same.

“We are thinking if we can appoint a psychologist who can train them in this regard [behaviour management]. We are also thinking to come up with guidelines where we put down in details about their do’s and don’ts and make them sign on it.

“In that case it will [be] easy for us to determine their issues and act accordingly,” Nazmul concluded.