National skipper Mushfiqur Rahim kept mum regarding the ongoing match-fixing saga that had shocked the people of the whole country since it came to light this week.
‘It is an issue on which I wish not to make any comments,’ Mushfiq told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday. ‘We try to play with our hundred per cent and we should receive our full payment. I don’t know whether there is any need to get tempted if not paid.’
Mushfiq was replying to a question whether he thinks the players will be tempted to do unscrupulous practice as they are not sure about their payment from the franchise owners.
The issue hogged the headlines after former national skipper Mohammad Asharful was implicated in a match-fixing scandal during the recent Bangladesh Premier League.
Media reports suggested that Ashraful had pleaded guilty to the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit and has risked himself of losing his cricket career.
Mushfiq said that time has come to increase the awareness after the cricket world turned upside down by the recent spot-fixing allegations that also rocked the just-concluded Indian Premier League.
‘It pains me when I come to know about all these fixing issues. Cricket is a gentlemen’s game where there is no scope for committing such mistakes,’ said Mushfiq.
‘It feels bad as a cricketer when I see corruption had got into this game,’ said Mushfiq.
‘Hope the ICC will look into it and I am confident that the BCB is alert about it,’ said Mushfiq. ‘Actually it varies from player to player but I am sure this unfair act is not possible by someone who has any feeling for his country.
Mushfiq was mainly speaking to offer an olive branch to the cricketers who were upset with his recent move of speaking with the national players separately about some issues relating to the forthcoming Dhaka Premier League.
Mushfiq sat with 21 other cricketers on May 20 at the SBNS to discuss the newly introduced grading system for the players’ payment in the DPL and expressed their reservation about it to the BCB president.
It left the cricketing fraternity widely divided as the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh was also dealing the issue separately. They accused Mushfiq of creating a division between the players and said it did a serious damage to the fringe players’ interests. .
‘I want to state clearly that there is no forum of cricketers except the CWAB and we are all parts of it,’ said Mushfiq. ‘I never said we are any different from the other cricketers. National team is not my father’s property where I can stay life-long,’ he said.
‘Here at best you can be for some years and we know that,’ he added.
Mushfiq said he had invited the national players as they were not involved with the issues related to the Dhaka Premier League.
‘We had some concern about grading system and this is one reason I invited the national players. I could not invite 200 players in such a short period,’ said Mushfiq.
Asked if they have still have any concern, Mushfiq replied in the affirmative.
‘Of course we have concern about this (grading system), we did not get our BPL payments and we are not sure how the payment will be made in this system as well.’
-With New Age input
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