On Wednesday (April 9), a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match between Gulshan and Shinepukur came to an end with a bizarre stumping.
At the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Shinepukur skipper Rayan Rahman won the toss and chose to put Gulshan in to bat. A 36-run opening stand was broken in the seventh over as Azizul Hakim was knocked over by Rahim Ahmed. Rahim then went on to dismiss the other opener, Zawad Abrar, for 37 to leave Gulshan 61-2 in 12.2 overs.
After Khalid Hasan was the third wicket to fall with the score at 71, Gulshan went on to slide to 114-6. Debutant Sakib Shahriyar struck 38 before he departed with the score 148, and the tail cobbled together 30 more, taking their side to 178.
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In the chase, Shinepukur were cruising at 48-1, before three wickets fell in eight balls, leaving them at 48-4. No.6 Sharear Sakib held the innings together with 40, before becoming the sixth to fall, at 123. They soon fell to 144-9, still 35 away from victory.
No.11 Shariful Islam hit 22 off 20 to keep them in the hunt though, even as No.9 Minhajul Abedin crawled his way to eight, batting 34 balls and nearly an hour to get there.
With Shinepukur just seven runs from victory, and with seven overs in hand, Abedin charged down the wicket at spinner Naeem Islam, who bowled an offside wide. Abedin let the ball go through to the keeper, and attempted to regain his ground as the bails were removed.
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'Never seen anything like this before'
Slow-motion replays on the live stream showed something curious, though. After letting the ball go, Abedin first stretched his bat back to get it back in the crease, but just as it was about to land, he pulled back, grounding it outside the crease.
That allowed wicketkeeper Alif Hasan Emon a second attempt at taking the bails off, after he had missed a first time. Abedin was clearly out of his ground, and the incident led the commentator to exclaim, "This is shocking ... Never seen anything like this before."
Shinepukur got a run for the wide, and the wicket saw them bowled out for 173, leading to a five-run loss. With just one win in nine games before this game, they were almost nailed-on to finish in the bottom two and suffer relegation. The defeat confirmed this.
The two points for Gulshan from the win, meanwhile, helped them move into third place and perhaps more crucially, means they have now sealed a top-six spot in the table which will allow them to contest the playoff rounds for the title.
Bangladesh Cricket Board initiates investigation
On Thursday (April 10), the BCB made a statement saying that it has "taken note of the concerns surrounding the Bashundhara Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League 2024-25 match between Gulshan Cricket Club and Shinepukur Cricket Club".
According to the statement, BCB have launched an investigation into the incident.
"The BCB Anti-Corruption Unit and the League's Technical Committee have promptly initiated an investigation into the alleged irregularities associated with the match.
"The BCB remains committed to ensuring fairness and discipline in all cricketing activities under its jurisdiction and will take the necessary actions based on the findings of the investigation."
Image credit: YouTube / T Sports
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