Sabbir facing six-month ban

Sports Desk: Bangladesh Cricket Board's disciplinary committee has recommended a six-month international ban for batsman Sabbir Rahman following the fiasco on Facebook where he was alleged to have abused and threatened a fan.

The incident is said to have occurred during the ODI series between Bangladesh and hosts West Indies in July. Earlier, the fan at the receiving end of Sabbir's ire said, on condition of anonymity, said that it was shocking for an international player to issue a physical assault threat.

"It was simply shocking," the victim told Cricbuzz. "I just expressed my feeling on my post and one of junior tagged it to him and we received a similar reply. I would not have taken it seriously but as there was a threat of physical assault I got scared and shared it," said the MBA student of Dhaka University.

The said account, "Shabbir Rahaman Roman" (the name also used in BCB's official emails to the players and media) - deactivated since the incident was reported to BCB - had more than 90,000 followers and is believed to be Sabbir's personal account.

Sabbir has made headlines for the wrong reasons on more than one occasion in the past. He was stripped off his national contract and banned for six months from domestic cricket last year in December for assaulting a fan in Rajshahi during a first-class game.

Earlier this year in Dehradun, he had an altercation with teammate Mehidy Hasan at the hotel room and was close to receiving another ban before ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza intervened to sort the issue.


risingbd/Dhaka/September 01, 2018/A K Azad