'I am not ICC'- Rohit Sharma's epic reply on being asked about Shakib Al Hasan's suspension

After weeks of strikes, stand-offs, suspensions and not to forget the debate around the shifting of the venue of the first Twenty20 International thanks to the prevailing hazardous air in the National capital, the T20I series between India and the visiting Bangladesh side is all set to get underway at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, November 03.

This is Bangladesh’s first-ever full-fledged tour of India and it is set to be a historic one with both sides set to lock horns in a pink-ball Day-Night Test at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. But before both sides’ will square-off in a three-match T20I series which is basically a precursor to next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

The visitors, despite running India close on a plethora of occasions like they did in the 2016 T20 World Cup or in last year’s Nidahas Trophy is yet to win a game against the hosts in the shortest format of the game. Their record against the Men in Blue in Twenty20 International cricket reads 0-8, and with the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar not playing in the upcoming series, this rubber was seen as a golden opportunity for the Asian Tigers to finally break the blob against their big brothers.

Rohit Sharma shuts down a journalist on Shakib’s suspension question

But coming into the series, Bangladesh cricket found itself in a whole host of controversies; the biggest of them being the eventual two-year suspension (one year of which is suspended) to No.1 ranked all-rounder and the heartbeat of their team, skipper Shakib Al Hasan. The Jessore-born was charged by the International Cricket Council for his failure to report the approaches of match-fixing to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) on three separate occasions.

Shakib accepted his mistake and was slapped by the ICC with a suspended two years sentence. The charismatic all-rounder, who scored in excess of 600 runs in the 50-over World Cup earlier this year can resume playing cricket after October 20, 2020, provided he does not commit any other offense as laid down by the ACSU. Naturally, the issue of Shakib has been widely discussed across the cricketing fraternity and the journalists did not leave the opportunity of asking India’s captain Rohit Sharma during the pre-match press conference in Delhi.

Sharma, in his typical manner, shrugged off the question. “I am not ICC,” he was quoted as saying in an event where he was unveiled as the brand ambassador of global sports brand Trusox. 

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