Shoaib Malik’s contract was terminated mid-way through the current edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) by his franchise Fortune Barishal. Malik was supposed to be available for the Barishal-based franchise till February 10 before leaving for the Pakistan Super League. In an official statement, Barishal said, “Shoaib Malik won’t take further part in this season’s BPL.” The story, however, is much longer than the one-line statement. Bangladeshi media reported that the sudden decision to terminate the former Pakistan captain’s contract was primarily due to two reasons. 1) Disciplinary issues. 2) Concerns over the no-balls that he bowled against the Khulna Tigers.
Malik, who played only three matches in this edition’s BPL, reportedly requested leave to spend time with his newly married wife Sana Javed. He was supposed to fly to Dubai and return before the Sylhet leg of the BPL. But after landing in Dubai, the experienced all-rounder informed the Barishal franchise of being unable to join the team on time as promised. Malik said he would only be available after the Sylhet leg on February 3.
This did not go down well with the franchise officials. Because his contract was anyway only till February 10. The franchise could ill-afford the absence of such an important overseas cricket for an entire leg.
This perhaps would not have been a serious enough reason for the franchise to terminate Malik’s contract midway if the 41-year-old hadn’t raised eyebrows by bowling three no-balls in one match earlier.
In the fourth over of the match against Khulna, Malik bowled three no-balls. A finger spinner bowling no-balls in T20s, where you are penalised with a free hit every time, is anyway always looked at from the corner of the eye but as many as three of them in a single over got everyone worried. Malik’s third no-ball became a topic of discussion on social media after screenshots of him overstepping by a long way went viral.
The Shoaib Malik suspicious no-balls in BPL
18 runs came from that Malik over and in the end, Barishal lost the match. The Barishal team management was not at all happy with the development. Captain Tamim Iqbal did not give another over to the all-rounder in that match. In fact, Malik played only as a batter in the next match.
Mizanur Rahman, the owner of the franchise went to the extent of demanding an inquiry on Malik’s no-balls. The last nail in the coffin for Malik in this BPL season came when he informed the franchise that he would not be able to rejoin the team before the first week of February.
Notably, Malik a veteran of 528 T20s, married for the third time after getting a divorce from former Indian tennis player Sania Mirza.
