Why is Sabbir still in?

December 21, 2017 is one of the dark days of Bangladesh cricket but it was not a terrible performance of the national team that cast a pall. It was the day when, in a National Cricket League match between Rajshahi Division and Dhaka Metropolis in Rajshahi, a celebrated national cricketer assaulted a young fan and threateningly told match officials not to report the incident.

If that is not travesty enough, 11 days later, on the first day of the New Year, the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced with a measure of self-satisfaction that Sabbir had been handed a hefty fine and a six-month ban from domestic cricket. No charges were pressed by the victim and despite the sanctions, Sabbir had gotten off lightly given the prevailing law of the land.

Imperfect is the best thing that can be said about the norms of behaviour expected from a Bangladesh cricketer; it has long been the message to cricketers that no matter how they behave off the field they can get away with indiscretions if they perform on it.

With that said, with a grand total of one run from two Test innings, 42 runs from five ODIs and 31 runs from three T20Is since the domestic ban, it must be asked why Sabbir is still in the side as it is obvious that he is not contributing to the team. It has also been a very naive decision by the BCB to ask a cricketer to perform in international matches when he, unlike Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar, has had no domestic match practice.

Moreover, the manner of his dismissal on Saturday, giving up on making his ground when he saw a fast throw advancing from mid-off when he should have been stretching and diving to complete a crucial run, says all one needs to know about the current state of the batsman.

Albeit belatedly, the BCB can send the right message by not giving Sabbir any more chances not only because of solid cricketing reasons, but because he is a terrible example off the field as well. Chances are, however, that all it will need is a good innings for Sabbir to continue being in the good books despite the worst behaviour.