The 13 Bangladeshi players who joined the ‘rebel’ ICL have been banned for 10 years from playing international and domestic cricket by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday.

Speaking on this, Major-General Sina Ibn Jamali, President, BCB said, “'The decision will be equally effective for contracted players or coaches if they participate in any unofficial tournament having no approval of the International Cricket Council (ICC) or the Bangladesh board.”

Earlier at a function in New Delhi, Zee promoted ICL announced a new team ‘Dhaka Warriors’ featuring all the 13 players who have been banned for 10 years. 

The Bangladeshi players who joined the ICL are, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Shahriar Nafees, Farhad Reza, Dhiman Ghosh, while Mosharraf Hossain, Mohammad Rafique, Tapash Baisya, Manjural Islam and Mohammad Sharif, Mahbubul Karim and the former Bangladeshi captain Habibul Basher. Reserve wicketkeeper Golam Mabud will also be part of the team. Out of these 13 players only Karim and Mabud have not represented Bangladesh in both ODI’s and Tests. 

Habibul Bashar had led Bangladesh to their first Test win and to 29 ODI’s wins, becoming the country's most successful skipper. At present, Bashar with 3026 runs, is the leading run scorer in Tests for the Bangladesh team.

Expressing his disappointment over the 10 year ban, Bashar said, “"I never thought that the BCB would impose such a harsh punishment which fits only for match fixers or drug abusers.”