The cricketers, fans and organisers felt relived as the International Cricket Council formally charged nine individuals for various offences committed during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League.
Though the ICC did not name any individual, it has been widely published in the media, clearing the unease that prevailed in the cricketing arena ever since the saga unfolded in May.
‘Our main job is playing cricket, hopefully we will be able to concentrate on it now,’ said former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar. ‘For the last few months there was always some kind of mistrust, suspicion that made every individual a sufferer.
‘Even we were also struggling to form a team. Before picking someone in a side we had to consider if anybody has any chance of being accused. It’s not a very easy situation,’ said Bashar, who is also a selector.
Bashar was involved with the tainted Dhaka Gladiators in the first season of the BPL and had reportedly assisted them in the players’ auction in the second season.
A television channel subsequently implicated him in the scandal, though it was later found to be a baseless allegation.
‘I never had any kind of fear as I knew that I am clean. However, one can never enjoy it if somebody implicated him in a scandal, no matter how baseless the allegation is,’ he said.
Unlike Bashar, Dhaka Gladiators manager Sanuar Hossain was always under the scanner, especially after Mohammad Rafique, one of the individuals charged by the ICC, had publicly accused him of knowing everything.
‘I knew I am clean and had no fear,’ said Sanuar. But when people say something it obviously hurts. ‘To tell you the truth I was waiting for the ICC to give its report. Now it is clear to all that I have not done anything wrong,’ he said.
It was learnt that the ICC did not take it well as the names of all accused promptly came to the media, but some BCB officials, preferring not to be quoted, said they had no choice but to leak it quickly.
‘There was a growing mistrust in the cricket community. It was not a very healthy situation for us. Now people know who the accused are and we can breathe freely,’ said an official.
The BCB has already started working on forming the panel that would subsequently conduct the trial.
Former chief justice Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury is likely to head the 10-member disciplinary panel with the names of Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Barrister Rafiqul Haque, Azmalul Hossain QC, former captain Roquibul Hassan and cricketer Ishtiaque Ahmed, among others, being discussed.
BCB said it is unlikely to formally announce the tribunal, which has to be headed by a retried Supreme Court judge, as the ICC has a strong reservation about it.
‘The ICC does not want us to speak publicly on the issue and we have to oblige,’ said a director.
Meanwhile, former BCB president Saber Hossain Chowdhury demanded a full investigation into the BPL, not just against the nine accused, as he believed it is necessary to clean the image of BCB.
‘I think the BCB should investigate the whole BPL. There were many conflicts of interest and they should be investigated,’ he said at a press conference.
‘We came to know that some BCB officials had their family members involved in the BPL. It should be also investigated why the BCB had returned the bank guarantee of Game On at the eleventh hour,’ said Saber.
-With New Age input
