Bangladesh all-rounder Nasir Hossain banned for two years over ‘iPhone 12’

DHAKA (Agencies): Bangladesh allrounder Nasir Hossain has been banned from all cricket for two years by the ICC for breaching the Emirates Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Code during the 2020-21 Abu Dhabi T10 League. He will be eligible to resume playing international cricket on April 7, 2025. Hossain was one of eight people associated with the Pune Devils franchise who were charged by the ICC in September 2023. He accepted the three charges against him and received a two-year ban, of which six months are suspended. According to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, the first charge against Hossain was that he “failed to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (without unnecessary delay) the receipt of a gift that was offered to him that had a value of over US$750, namely the gift of a new iPhone 12. The second charge was that Hossain “failed to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official full details of the approach or invitation he received to engage in Corrupt Conduct via the new iPhone 12.” And finally, “he failed or refused, without compelling justification, to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation in relation to possible Corrupt Conduct under the Code, including (without limitation) failing to provide accurately and completely any information and/or documentation requested by the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (whether as part of a formal Demand pursuant to Article 4.3 or otherwise) as part of such investigation.” Hossain has played 19 Tests, 65 ODIs and 31 T20Is for Bangladesh, and while his last international match was in January 2018, he was playing domestic cricket as recently as May 2023.