Rahman has managed to squeeze a single Test, eight ODI appearances and the same number of T20s into a year in which there have been, to the day, just two months in which the Bangladeshi batsman was not suspended from any form of cricket. On New Year’s Day he picked up a six-month suspension from the domestic game, was stripped of his central contract and fined $25,000 for, during a first-class game in the last week of 2017, asking the on-field umpires’ permission to briefly leave the field and, having secured it, assaulting a 12-year-old boy who had apparently “made a noise” at him, while hiding behind a sightscreen (though not from an eagle-eyed official). “We have meted out a heavy punishment,” said the BCB disciplinary committee vice-chairman, Sheikh Sohel. “This is his last chance. If he has another brush with indiscipline, he will be permanently suspended.” This was not exactly true. In the summer Rahman’s Facebook account threatened to physically assault a fan who criticised his form, and that other brush with indiscipline had come to pass. After promising “that he would never do such a thing again” and also “admitting to a lot of things” he was fined and suspended afresh, this time from domestic cricket. “He said that his account was hacked but we took into account other incidents, some of which he has admitted to be true,” said the BCB director, Ismail Haider Mallick, so the player had at least displayed some of the elite honesty that many in cricket aspire to. “If there is a repeat, he will be serving longer suspensions. Some people get their act straight, some don’t.”
Written by Simon Burnton
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/dec/13/anti-sports-personality-of-the-year-awards-2018-bbc under the title “The Anti-Sports Personality of the Year awards 2018 | Simon Burnton”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
