Shahzad surprise

Spectators at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur were slightly taken aback when Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad came out to open the innings for the Rangpur Riders yesterday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) last month had announced that Shahzad would be banned for Rangpur's next two games as he had broken the code of conduct on the field during Rangpur's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) game against the Rajshahi Kings by poking Sabbir with a bat after being dismissed.

Since he had missed Rangpur's last game, it was expected that he would be absent yesterday as well which led to some confusion when he came out to bat.

However, that confusion was cleared later in the evening when a second press release stated that Rangpur had lodged an appeal with the BPL Governing Council to reduce the playing ban on November 30.

As per the press release, the BPL governing council reduced Shahzad's ban to one match 'for the greater interest of the tournament' and he was subsequently available for selection yesterday.