Sabbir Rahman in danger of another lengthy ban

Sabbir Rahman might be facing another lengthy ban from cricket. He is set to meet the BCB's disciplinary committee on Saturday, for a hearing related to the outburst on social media that allegedly came from Sabbir's official account and directed abuse at a fan following Bangladesh's loss in the second ODI in the West Indies last month.

Sabbir has been dropped from Bangladesh's ODI squad for the first time since his debut in 2014, and is already on the BCB's watchlist for physically assaulting a spectator; for this, he was stripped of his central contract, fined, and barred from domestic cricket for six months in January. He has been in trouble over disciplinary matters previously too, with the BCB fining him in 2016 for "serious off-field disciplinary breaches" during the Bangladesh Premier League.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan said Sabbir would get a chance to defend himself but indicated that a repeat offence will not go unpunished.

The disciplinary committee has also summoned Nasir Hossain, over being embroiled in a social media scandal earlier this year, and Mosaddek Hossain, who was recently sued by his wife Sharmin Samira from whom he is now divorced.

"The disciplinary committee will hold Sabbir's hearing after which we will reach a decision," Hassan said. "He is not in the ODI squad, which could also be because of the hearing's influence. One has to be given a chance to defend himself. We will take an appropriate action.

"When we see our punishment has no impact on a cricketer, we have to give him more stringent punishments. We also have to be fair in our judgment. If it [the allegation] is proved, however, we have to take a final decision which, for me, is being ousted from the national team."

In the last three years, several Bangladesh cricketers have found themselves in trouble off the field. Rubel Hossain was jailed briefly in January 2015 after a fall-out with his girlfriend. Al-Amin Hossain was sent home from the 2015 World Cup for breaking a team curfew in Brisbane. A few months later, Shahadat Hossain also landed in jail for allegedly physically assaulting his house help.

Arafat Sunny got bail last year after serving jail time in a dowry case. Around the same time as the Sunny affair was playing out, Mohammad Shahid's wife had reportedly lodged a complaint with the BCB CEO alleging Shahid of physically assaulting her.

Hassan said the BCB was prepared to bring in outside help, in the form of a psychologist, to address such issues. Also, he said, the board is considering social media restrictions on tours, but ultimately the responsibility to behave in an appropriate manner lay with the players.

"The players have to follow the guidelines but, at the end of the day, the players have to be good themselves. We cannot force it on them."