ICC bans Shakib for two years from all cricketing activities

Dhaka/Dubai : Bangladesh captain and world number one ODI all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was on Tuesday handed a two-year suspension by the ICC for failing to report three corrupt approaches, including one at the IPL, by a suspected Indian bookie, ousting him from the upcoming tour of India.

Twelve months of that ban is a suspended sentence which will come into effect if Shakib fails to comply with the anti-corruption code of the world body.

The one-year ban that he has to serve will keep him out of next year's Indian Premier League (IPL) and also the World T20 to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15 the same year.

"I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches," said Shakib, who is currently at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC all-rounders' rankings for Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively.

"The ICC ACU is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn't do my duty in this instance," he said in a statement issued by the ICC.

In his absence, senior-most player Mushfiqur Rahim might lead Bangladesh in Tests while one among Mahmudullah Riyadh or Mosaddek Hosain is set to be the skipper in the three T20 Internationals.

The 32-year-old was being kept away from the team's ongoing practice sessions before the India tour on ICC's instructions. The series against India comprises three T20 Internationals and two Tests and gets underway in New Delhi with the shortest format games on November 3.

Shakib was spoken to by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit in January and August this year and he failed to report the approaches made to him by "an individual known to the ACU and suspected of involvement in corruption in cricket, Deepak Aggarwal."

The ICC said Aggarwal had asked Shakib to provide information on team composition and strategy on three separate occasions, one of them being April 26, 2018 when his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad was to take on Kings XI Punjab. Sunrisers won the game by 13 runs.