Ashraful, Dhaka Gladiators implicated
Bangladesh cricket was rocked by match-fixing allegations again after former captain Mohammad Ashraful was linked in a report to be involved in the
unscrupulous act during the recent Bangladesh Premier League.
It was reported in a Bengali daily on Friday that a visiting team of ICC Anti-Corruption Unit had quizzed Ashraful recently regarding Dhaka Gladiators’ matches against Chittagong Kings and Barisal Burners.
Gladiators, the eventual champions, lost both the games by big margin raising quite a few eyebrows as it did not go with the strength of the side. Asharful was captain on both the occasions as Gladiators rested their regular captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza.
The interrogation coincided with the ongoing saga in the Indian Premier League when three Indian players, including former Test player Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, were taken into police custody for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing.
It was learnt that Asharful had admitted to have been part of the wrongdoing in the suspected two matches under the pressure from Gladiators owner.
Officials confirmed that ACU interrogation included former national skipper Sakib al Hasan and Mashrafee bin Muratza of Gladiators along with several other players of Kings.
BPL governing council secretary Ismail Haider Mallick confirmed to New Age about the ACU visit in Dhaka for investigating some BPL games that they suspected to have been unfair.
‘The ACU has completed its investigation into some of the BPL matches and has already left Dhaka,’ said Mallick,
‘We cannot disclose anything further due to the agreement of confidentiality between them and us,’ said Mallick, also a member of the BCB ad hoc committee
The Gladiators’ officials questioned the motive behind recent interrogation by the ACU as they feel it could be done to divert the attention from India
‘I don’t know why this issue is raised now, it is questionable,’ said Salim Chowdhury, owner of Gladiators.
‘Maybe they (ACU) have some other motives, but I cannot tell you as the they have not met me, neither have I received anything officially from the BCB,’ said Salim
‘BPL is the second biggest tournament after the IPL and a lot of people want to downplay it,’ said Salim.
Chittagong Kings owner Sameer Quader Chowdhury was surprised at the development, though there was no direct allegation against the franchise.
When his attention was drawn to the development, Sameer said this is an issue of Dhaka Gladiators and he is not in a position to comment.
It was also reported that Gladiator’s foreign recruit Owais Shah was quizzed in England.
-With New Age input
