Shakib Al Hasan lashing out at the stumps twice in a game or Sabbir Rahman allegedly making racist comments has once again proved our cricketers’ inability to control their emotions. Many of our cricketers starting from superstars like Shakib or Mushfiq to players once regarded as our young potentials like Sabbir or Nasir all the way to mediocre talent like Shubhashish - all have repeatedly caught the headlines showing their lack of understanding of appropriate behaviour on and off the field.
Shakib Al Hasan, the best player Bangladesh has ever produced, has also been arguably the most controversial character throughout his career. His disciplinary issue started way back in 2010 when he threatened to hit a ground staff with a bat for moving in front of the sightscreen.
The following year, he made a middle-finger gesture towards the crowd after a humiliating defeat versus West Indies in WC 2011. Afterwards, in February 2014, he faced punishment for the first time for making an inappropriate gesture on camera. Later in July, he received his strictest punishment from BCB of six months, which was later reduced to three and a half months, for ‘serious misbehaviour’ with the then head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Shakib is not alone in such notorious acts. In the latest edition of BPL, Mushfiqur Rahim lost his cool multiple times in a game only to have ended up threatening to throw the ball at young Nasum Ahmed twice. He also engaged in controversy by creating an immature tweet after India lost the semifinal against West Indies in T20 WC 2016.
Previously, Rubel Hossain was arrested by the police following rape charges which were later withdrawn by the plaintiff. And then, 2016 included a social media breakout of Nasir Hossain having 80 SIM cards in his 12 handsets.
In BPL 2016, Sabbir Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain were fined following ‘serious off-field disciplinary breaches.’ Later in 2018, Sabbir received punishment twice – the first one in January for assaulting a young boy in a National Cricket League (NCL) match and the second one in July for allegedly threatening two fans on Facebook. Besides, he once created outrage by featuring in a controversial raunchy TV commercial which later got banned.
In BPL 2017, Subhasish Roy charged at Mashrafe Mortaza and came face to face with a very aggressive and menacing posture showing utter disrespect to a very senior cricketer. In November 2019, Shahada Hossain committed a level 4 offense by assaulting his own teammate Arafat Sunny.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to narrow down one single reason for such occurrences. Various underlying factors do function as catalysts in such cases. Certain players are very aggressive by nature. No one else but Shakib Al Hasan can be an ideal example. The way he confronted Wahab Riaz at Khulna in 2015 or the way he protested in a game against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy 2018 may definitely go against the spirit of the game, but certainly shows his passion and enthusiasm for the game.
Even the recent DPL incident can be seen as a message sent by Shakib against all the mismanagement going on in our domestic circuit that has been repeatedly mentioned for years. Players of such type are prone to commit inappropriate behaviours unless they are delicately and properly managed and dealt with.
Another couple of factors that can explain such inappropriate behaviours are unique lifestyle and sudden stardom. Since most of the players of our national team come from the general mass, a certain few of them find it difficult to deal with the fame and lifestyle associated with the national team.
Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian skipper, once in a programme shared a story about the way he managed Yuvraj Singh on the latter’s debut tour. He said: “First time when Yuvraj Singh came into the national side in 2001, he was a young 17/18-year-old boy, who was trying to make a mark in international cricket. Yuvraj Singh was a flamboyant young boy; so, he wanted to go out, party, and lead a life because you don’t expect an 18/19-year-old boy to sit home and read books.”
Ganguly told the security in charge to keep a close eye on Yuvraj but did not let the manager know anything about it since Yuvraj might get scolded. He also personally told Yuvraj to maintain discipline throughout the tour. Yet, Yuvraj was missing from his room the day before the first match and Ganguly found him at a nightclub.
Ganguly just brought Yuvraj to the hotel calmly. Here, the wise captain controlled the entire thing ensuring that the incident did not get any media coverage. Not that the incident changed the flamboyance of Yuvraj Singh, but it certainly sent a crucial message to him on how to curb his instincts in certain scenarios.
The incidents related to Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, or Nasir Hossain could well have been avoided had they received such guidance from any senior cricketers or from the board. However, considering the scenario in Bangladesh, such micromanagement is beyond imagination.
To keep things under control, it is of great importance that BCB starts acting more professionally by taking proactive measures to prevent, not reactive measures after the occurrences. The senior cricketers also have a crucial role to play to nurture and guide the newcomers and keep them on the right track.
The writer is currently studying at the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka (IBA-DU).
tanvir2575@gmail.com