Fixing roots from 2004?

MOHAMMAD ASHRAFUL

A sensational disclosure from the country's leading Bangla daily, Prothom-Alo, regarding spot and match-fixing allegations shook the sports fraternity yesterday. If the allegations made by the daily are indeed true, it will likely bring to an ignominious end the career of Bangladesh's first cricketing superstar, Mohammad Ashraful.
While there have been numerous reports linking the former national captain to irregularities during the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League, Prothom Alo's exposé went above and beyond, digging out the darkest story in Bangladesh cricket history.
If true, match-fixing has been deeply rooted in Bangladesh cricket and has implicated not just Ashraful but also former captains Khaled Mahmud and Khaled Mashud along with former left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique.
The report suggested that Ashraful, the poster boy of Bangladesh cricket, not only confessed his involvement in fixing in the BPL matches but also in international cricket, at least  thrice since 2004, during recent interrogations by the ICC's (International Cricket Council) Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) in Dhaka.
The recent ACSU officials visit had hit the sports headlines and most of the talk was centered on the match-fixing allegations in the money-spinning BPL. But it was beyond anybody's imagination that the evil force of the game made its poisonous bite long before in the country's cricket. According to the report, Ashraful entered into the dark world back in 2004 through the assistance of three national stalwarts—Mahmud, Mashud and Rafique.
He then proceeded to involve himself in a variety of situations with a number of noted fixers, including the recently apprehended Sunil Bhatia, involving both Test and One-Day Internationals as well as the Sri Lankan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League.
With these allegations, a dark chapter of Bangladesh cricket is set to unravel. However, by the word of law, one is innocent until proven guilty and thus the cricket lovers of Bangladesh will have to wait for the ACSU reports to know, once and for all, the true and likely painful story of Bangladesh cricket.