Lalmatia captain asks BCB to lift ban

Faisal Ahmed, who had captained Lalmatia Club in the game that witnessed Sujon Mahud concede 92 runs in four balls as a form of protest against allegedly biased umpiring, yesterday went to the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in order to request the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to withdraw his suspension from the game.

Apart from Sujon, who was banned for 10 years, Faisal and the team's coach were also suspended for five years by the BCB.

“I have come here today to ask the BCB to forgive me and let me continue playing cricket. I want to do something great in this game and I want to play,” Faisal told reporters in Mirpur yesterday.

“I wanted to inform the board that I was captain for only that game and I really didn't have anything to do with the incident. I had told Sujon not to bowl that way, but he did not listen to me,” he added.

When asked why he was not able to handle the situation on the field, he said: “I couldn't do anything until he had bowled six balls in that over.”

Faisal spoke to BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury and he was then asked to submit a written letter to the board.

While the board announced to the media the steps they had taken against the second division players, they are yet to communicate the verdicts to the players officially.

The BCB, last week, announced that it has banned Sujon Mahmud from Lalmatia Club and Tasnim Hasan from Fear Fighter Sporting Club for 10 years. It also banned the captains, coaches and team managers of Lalmatia and Fear Fighter for five years. It also suspended the two clubs indefinitely.

For their inability to handle the game, umpires Azizul Bari Babu and Shamsur Rahman Jacky were suspended for six months.