The Bangladesh Cricket Board took immediate action against Shahadat Hossain, the former Test pacer, banning him from the ongoing National Cricket League for physically assaulting Arafat Sunny during the second day's play between Dhaka Division and Khulna Divison at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna. Arafat had reportedly said that Shahadat was not competent to shine one side of the ball, which angered the paceman enough to launch an attack on Sunny before players came to the rescue. It is understood that Hossain now faces a one-year ban for his antics.
A BCB tournament committee official told Cricbuzz that Shahadat had been brought back from Khulna after he accepted the verdict that is considered a Level 4 offense in the BCB's code of conduct. "Under the level four offenses a player will be banned from participating in any BCB competition for one year while he will be slapped with a fine of Tk 50,000,'' said the official on Monday. "Shahadat accepted the verdict and returned back home. We have given the report of the match referee to the technical committee and they will decide his future but he has been barred of taking part in this NCL game," he added.
Match referee Akhtar Ahmed said that he has given his report on the incident to the BCB after the incident, adding that it was simply not acceptable. "The match referee has no authority to punish Shahadat for what he has done. His offense falls under level 4 offense,'' Akhtar Ahmed told reporters. "This is a big offense because it is not something like a bad gesture or an abuse.