Known for losing his temper every now and then, Bangladesh cricket captain Shakib Al Hasan is in the news again for several reasons, including his latest tantrum episode by a fan.
Apart from winning the country’s recent general elections, the cricketer was also seen slapping a fan in the middle of the crowd, allegedly during his visit to the polling station.
In a viral video, a Bangladeshi cricketer punches a fan in an altercation he claims took place a week before the election results were announced.
The cricketer is also known for his short temper on the field. Now he was also seen losing off the field when a fan approached him during what appeared to be a polling station where he arrived to vote with several people surrounding him as he left, according to the video.
On the field, he was seen several times arguing angrily with the umpires and also once kicked the stumps when a decision was not announced in his favour.
One of his most recent “disgraceful” acts was during last year’s Asia Cup when he was condemned for “running out” Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, which had never happened before in international cricket.
Expressing his disappointment at Shakib’s action, Mathews said: “I got two minutes to get to the crease and prepare, which I did. And then it was an equipment failure. And I don’t know where the common sense went because obviously that disgraceful by Shakib and Bangladesh.”
The cricketer added that he still had “five more seconds before my helmet breaks”.
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“I wasn’t trying to waste time. I wasn’t trying to take advantage of anything. It was just pure equipment failure,” Mathews added.
Win the polls
The Bangladesh captain won a seat in the country’s parliament on Sunday after a landslide victory in a general election boycotted by the opposition, an official said.
The 36-year-old all-rounder, who leads the country in all formats of the game, defeated his rival by a margin of more than 150,000 votes in his constituency in the western city of Magura, said chief district administrator Abu Naser Beg.
“It was a landslide victory,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from the cricketer, the candidate of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Awami League party, who is widely expected to win a fifth term in power after the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the vote.
Shakib, speaking ahead of the election, admitted he faced no major hurdle but told AFP he was still worried about the contest.
“Competition and challenges are always there, whether it’s a small team or a big team,” he said.
Shakib’s campaign forced him to take a temporary leave from cricket.
He bristled at the suggestion that he would be unable to juggle his duties as a lawmaker and cricket captain.
“Did I retire?” he asked during the campaign. “If I’m not retired, where does this question come from?”
Shakib is the only person to have been ranked as the number one all-rounder in all three formats simultaneously by the International Cricket Council.
