Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan said on Tuesday they would investigate and take appropriate action against three cricketers if they were found breaking the team rules in South Africa.
The BCB president was reacting to the reports that suggested cricketers Nasir Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Shafiul Islam had been spotted in a casino at East London on Sunday shortly after their 200-run loss in the third one-day international against South Africa.
‘We will definitely investigate the matter and take appropriate action,’ Nazmul told reporters at the BCB headquarters in Mirpur.
‘Let us get the written report from the team management after the tour. If it was a matter of one player we could have taken a drastic step but as three cricketers were involved we needed to take some time,’ he said.
Nazmul insisted that the trio was not involved in any gambling and they had been encouraged to visit the place by South African cricketers AB de Villiers and Kagiso Rabada, whom they had met in a shopping mall after the game.
‘They returned to the hotel at 10:34pm where as everyone should have returned to his room by 10:00pm. It was a mistake and we would look after it but from what I have learnt they did not participate in gambling and only had some food at the place,’ said Nazmul.
The incident created uproar in social media given that Bangladesh were facing a very hard time in South Africa. They lost the two Test matches by 333 runs and an innings and 254 runs respectively before suffering a loss of 10-wicket, 104-run and 200-run in three days.
The BCB has a history of recalling the players after returning to the hotel late. During the 2015 World Cup, the board sent pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain home from Australia after staying out side hotel beyond reasonable time in Brisbane.
Ironically, Al-Amin was replaced by Shafiul Islam, one of three players accused in the latest incident.
All three accused players — Shafiul , Nasir and Taskin — are part of Bangladesh squad that will play now two Twenty20 internationals against the hosts, respectively on October 26 and 29.
-With New Age input
