Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Shahzad has been reprimanded by the BPL match officials after being contentiously seen smoking at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
The incident took place on February 4 when both the matches of the tournament were abandoned without a toss due to bad weather and excessive rain.
Controversially, Shahzad was seen disobeying the smoking rules inside the stadium while he awaited the start of his team Minister Group Dhaka’s night fixture versus Comilla Victorians.
BPL officials made it a point to add a demerit point to Shahzad’s disciplinary record, with his actions found to be in direct breach of Article 2.20 of the code of conduct laid down by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
As per a BCB press release, the cricketer accepted the sanction imposed by the match referee Neeyamur Rashid after admitting to the offence. This meant there was no formal hearing required.
The board was forced to act strictly in the matter after multiple media outlets reported the incident and carried the photograph where Shahzad was seen smoking a cigarette while standing with a few other players. Fans were also extremely critical of the player over social media, as he carried unacceptable conduct on the cricket field.
ESPNcricinfo reported there are murmurs that MGD coach Mizanur Rahman was the first from the team’s set-up to warn Shahzad not to smoke before the side’s experienced opener Tamim Iqbal requested him to come back inside the dressing room.
Shahzad has played six matches of BPL 2022 for MGD with 120 runs at a strike-rate of 123.71, including a best of 53. He has been a regular feature for the side that currently stands third in the points table with three wins and three losses apiece in their seven matches.
The 35-year-old is one of the most experienced Afghanistan cricketers with two Tests, 84 ODIs and 70 T20Is for his country. Previously, Shahzad has faced sanctions for breaching the code of conduct rules and was banned by the Afghanistan Cricket Board for disciplinary reasons.
