Penalty for national cricketer Sabbir Rahman

CRICKET lovers of the country are dismayed at the incident of penalising a talented player like Sabbir Rahman. He was penalised for beating a young fan during a National Cricket League game between Rajshahi Division and Dhaka Metropolis. According to media reports, the fan was taunting Sabbir from outside the playing-field. An angry Sabbir then walked off the ground, reportedly after taking permission from the umpire. But instead of going to the dressing room, the cricketer allegedly beat up the young fan. It is not the first time - he was involved in a similar act of violating players' code of conduct before. Whatever may be the provocation, he should not have acted like that and it was probably the last thing expected from a player with national colour.

In addition, the batsman has been banned from domestic cricket for six months and will have to pay a fine of Tk.2.0 million. This is not the first time that Sabbir has faced disciplinary action. In 2016, the BCB had fined him US$14,000 approximately for "serious off-field disciplinary breaches" during a Bangladesh Premier League match.

Social media was also abuzz with public reactions. Most of the people were disappointed at the unbecoming behaviour of a national cricketert. I think BCB took the right decision by penalising Sabbir for his unruly behaviour. It should be an eye-opener for others.

Nadim Javed

Tejgoan, Dhaka