BCA proposes 6-month ban for Sabbir Rahman

Bangladesh Cricket Authorities (BCA) have recommended a six-month ban for right-hand batsman Sabbir Rahman for allegedly abusing a fan on social media.

Earlier, the 26-year-old was accused of physically assaulting a fan during a first-class match in December last year, following which he was given a six-month ban from domestic cricket, along with a fine of around USD 25,000.

Confirming the recommendations made in the abuse case, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director Ismail Haider Mallick said that the ban proposed is by no means a lesser punishment and if the player did not mend his way, he would be served with stricter consequences.

"We have recommended to the board president that Sabbir Rahman should be suspended from international cricket for six months. He repented that he would never do such a thing again. He also admitted to a lot of things. This is by no means a lesser punishment. Every player has a dream to represent the country. He was banned from domestic cricket because of his previous offence. We called him this time for a recent incident on Facebook. He said that his account was hacked but we took into account other incidents, some of which he has admitted to be true," ESPNcricinfo.com quoted Mallick, as saying.

"If there's a repeat of such incidents, he will be serving longer suspensions. He had a loss of nearly 1.5 crores in the previous punishment. Some people get their act straight, some don't. The board president has made it clear that we will be strict on discipline," he added.

The batsman, who was not named in Bangladesh squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, will also be missing the home series against West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Rahman has played a total of 54 one-day internationals and has scored 1054 runs with an average of 24.51, while in Tests, he has scored 481 runs with an average of 24.05.