"Lesson for me that you should not take all the things in life as a joke" - Shakib Al Hasan opens up about his anti-corruption ban in 2019
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan admitted that the anti-corruption ban in 2019 was a massive lesson for him to never take things lightly and for granted. Shakib was handed a two-year ban by the ICC's anti-corruption unit in October 2019 for not reporting several Indian bookmakers approaching him.
While one year was suspended, the 37-year-old still played no games from November 2019 till the end of 2020.
In a documentary on Bongo, a leading OTT platform in Bangladesh, Shakib opened up about his learnings from the ban.
"Regret as far as the punishment is concerned I feel I could have informed them, there were lot of options but it was kind of a joke and it was a lesson for me that you should not take all the things in life as a joke. I don't know how much it will effect or not (his legacy) it is for others to decide whether it will have any effect or not I learnt a lot from that period. Had this not happened I would have had a bit cleaner image," said Shakib.
The ban was enforced after the veteran all-rounder accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code.
Shakib Al Hasan finally returned to action in the home series against the West Indies in January 2021.
"I felt that there is no chance of any such thing (getting banned) and it will all be cleared" - Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan admitted that he felt there was no chance of a ban during the investigations earlier in the year 2019. Thus, he was shell shock when the decision was made.
The charges were made out of the Bangladesh all-rounder failing to inform details of approaches made by bookies in a tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and during the IPL in 2018.
"When the investigation took place that happened before the World Cup in March or February I don't remember at that point when I was talking with the anti-corruption unit member, I felt that there is no chance of any such thing (getting banned) and it will all be cleared because I have cooperated as much as possible," said Shakib.
He added:
"I don't think anyone would cooperate in such a way and then suddenly when they informed me about the decision by calling me I was shocked of course but because I made a mistake I have to accept the punishment."
Shakib is currently playing in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where Bangladesh are 1-1 after two games. However, the champion cricketer has struggled thus far in the tournament, scoring only 11 runs at an average of 5.50 and picking up no wickets.
Shakib will be back in action when Bangladesh take on the Netherlands in a crucial Group D encounter in St. Vincent on June 13.