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Towhid Hridoy, the Bangladesh batter and the captain of the Mohammedan Sporting Club, has been handed a further penalty for breaching the code of conduct in relation to criticising the umpire in public in the ongoing Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. 

Hridoy, who has been captaining the Mohammedan side in the absence of Tamim Iqbal, received a fine of taka 80,000, while three demerit points were added to his name under the 2.7 section of the BCB code of conduct. 

Match referee of the match between Mohammedan and Abahani Limited on Saturday, Neeyamur Rashid Rahul, confirmed Hridoy’s sanction to ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Sunday. 

Section 2.7 of the code of conduct states that a player should be penalised for ‘Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in a Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any Match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made.’

Hridoy was already sanctioned for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during that match between Abahani and Mohammedan on Saturday, which the latter won by 39 runs. 

Hridoy was handed four demerit points for his offence, and that resulted in a two-match suspension. Pacer Ebadot Hossain also received three demerit points and a Tk 40,000 fine.

But after the match, Hridoy made comments which were pointed at one of the umpires of the match, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat, who’s also a member of the ICC elite panel of umpires. 

‘In the heat of the moment, a lot can happen,’ said Hridoy. ‘They [umpires] are human too, and humans make mistakes. We all do, even in our respective professions.’ 

‘But what I believe is that if a mistake is made, it should be acknowledged. If I make a mistake, I’ll own up to it. But if you believe it wasn’t a mistake and refuse to admit it, then that’s not acceptable,’ he added. 

So Hridoy now has seven demerit points beside his name, which will remain for a 12-month period. A further demerit point in that period will result in a further four-match suspension for the batter.