Mushfiqur Rahim says fixing allegations by Asif Akbar have hurt him

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim who is leading the Barisal Bulls team in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season 4 has criticized team ambassador and singer Asif Akbar for claiming that players from the team were involved in match-fixing. Asif posted a status about the issue on Facebook which read, “In 17, 18, 19, 20 overs batsmen become lame and bowlers turn tigers. T20 is another name of gambling.”

He further wrote, “I’m confirmed that a portion of the players of my team Barisal Bulls is involved in match fixing, but there is no proof. If the BCB and AKSU keep their eyes on it, they may find out the proof.”

Talking about his status Asif was quoted by Prothom Alo as saying, “I won’t mention anyone’s name, but I suspect seven-eight players of our team involved in gambling. It’s my personal observation.”

Mushfiqur was clearly disappointed by the allegations on his team and said that he couldn’t believe that the singer had posted such a status. “Even after seeing it with my own eyes I couldn’t believe that he had written that. He is an educated person and almost a big celebrity in Bangladesh. To hear these things from him is a shame and irritating at the same time.

“We work really hard. We depend on cricket for our livelihood. What he has said has hurt me a lot. I would like to ask him which point of the match he thought was fixed? Because he said that he was sure but it can’t be proved. What does that even mean? Only a mad person can write that,” said Mushfiqur.

“If he was sad about the way we were playing, that’s a different issue. But to write what he wrote was absolutely unacceptable.

“The thing is we only get one day after every game. Then we have team meetings, we have to recover and there are lots of things to do. I don’t understand when they have the time for such things.

“Yes, these things do happen in leagues. But as far as the players in the BPL are concerned, as far as the matches which I played, nothing of this sort has happened,” he added.