BPL gets the Shakib it deserves

Before the Bangladesh Premier League's ninth edition had rolled on to the field, Bangladesh Test and T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan was scathing in his criticism of the tournament's organisation. As the tournament has begun, Shakib's attitude towards it has only caused further uproar about its standards.

His latest act, rushing onto the field to argue with umpires during the game between Rangpur Riders and Fortune Barishal, further signals Shakib's attitude towards the BPL, a tournament where 'whatever goes' has become the norm.

His latest act also crossed the line normally maintained in a professional setting. The matter turned out to be rather futile in essence. The issue was about who would take strike given the match-up at the start of the innings. The event in itself was not big, but Shakib's reactions signaled otherwise.

Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan had the ball and left-handed Chaturanga De Silva was set to take strike. It was then that Nurul Hasan Sohan, the Rangpur skipper, gave the ball to Sheikh Mahedi. Shakib immediately shouted instructions for Anamul Haque to take strike against the right-arm spinner and chaos ensued, leading to Shakib bursting onto the field before a ball was bowled in the second innings.

When Anamul took strike, Rangpur again changed to Rakibul and Shakib went on to argue with the match officials. Barishal's Mehedi Hasan Miraz later said at a press conference that Shakib had sought permission from the fourth umpire. "He did talk to the umpire at first," Miraz said.

"This is the first time," Rangpur skipper Nurul Hasan said when asked if this was something he was seeing for the first time.

"When Shakib bhai was shouting from the outside, I was changing [the opening bowler]," he said. "When Shakib bhai was instructing from outside, I did that. If the batters had taken the decision, then I wouldn't have changed. Since instructions came from outside [the field of play], I opted to change.

Judging from Shakib's body language, he may not have bothered enough to seek permission in the heat of that moment. Previously, during the match against Comilla, he had almost charged an umpire for failing to signal a wide.

Shakib has also publicly said that he could run the BPL better than the current organisers. Clearly, from his point of view the BPL is not meeting the professional standard.

Nurul also opined that the standard was missing and suggested the rules had not been explained. "The umpire should have mentioned [the rules] but he didn't say anything. If he did, it would have been solved easily," he said of the game being stopped for almost five minutes due to Shakib's entrance.

"Later, things happened as the batter wanted. It's their right and that's what happened," Nurul said.

When The Daily Star asked the match referee if either Shakib or Nurul would be fined, he said yesterday evening he 'could not say at the moment'. When the BPL governing council failed to address what a contracted player could say about the BPL to the press, a member of the refereeing committee may be in doubt over communicating the penalties or if indeed they will be handed out.

The Alternate Decision Review System caused confusion again when a not out decision against Anamul was reviewed and given out. There was no clarity around such decisions. "I think umpires feel more pressure [due to ADRS]. It would be better if it wasn't there," he said.

From marketing to player availability and lack of accountability in terms of umpiring decisions and otherwise, the BPL showed a lack of professionalism and Shakib could only be seen as answering his own claims regarding the tournament with his actions at this point.