Recently, Shohely Akhter, an off-spinner for Bangladesh, became the first female cricket player to be suspended for corruption, shocking the women’s cricket community. She was found guilty of trying to manipulate matches, proposing bribes, and hindering an ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigation, turning her small international career into a contentious headline.
Shohely Akhter’s participation in match-fixing during the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa has shocked the cricket community, and the allegations are severe.
Shohely Akhter: Who Is She?
In the world of international cricket, Shohely Akhter was not well-known. She only played in two ODIs and thirteen T20Is for Bangladesh Women, taking 11 wickets in all formats. She showed her promise and recorded 4/7 in T20Is, which were her best numbers.
The International Cricket Statistics of Shohely Akhter
ODIs: two games, three wickets, economy 3.26, best bowling 3/13
T20Is: 8 wickets, 13 games, 4/7 best bowling, 5.78 economy
Even though Shohely hasn’t performed much on stage, her career has taken a dramatic turn that will now determine her legacy.
Shohely Akhter, who was born in Bangladesh, started out hoping to succeed in cricket. However, her cricket career was silent when she last played for Bangladesh in October 2022 until her name surfaced for all the wrong reasons.
It all began in South Africa during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. Shohely approached a fellow Bangladeshi player prior to their February 14, 2023, match against Australia, despite not being a member of the playing group.
FIRST TIME ICC BANNED A FEMALE PLAYER 🤯
Bangladesh off-spinner Shohely Akhter has been handed a five-year ban by the ICC for breaching anti-corruption guidelines during the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/95Ffqkdbw3
— All Cricket Records (@Cric_records45) February 11, 2025
Shohely promised the player 2 million Bangladeshi Takas (USD 16,400) to get her out hit-wicket during the match after contacting her on Facebook Messenger.
The player promptly informed the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of the situation after declining the offer. Even though Shohely had erased the information from her personal devices, the player gave the ACU voice notes as proof.
Shohely’s explanation and the investigation
Shohely acknowledged delivering the voice messages during the ACU’s investigation, but she attempted to defend her conduct by saying it was only a “challenge” to demonstrate that the Bangladesh team wasn’t participating in fixing.
She even displayed screen grabs of what appeared to be a chat with a buddy. Her statement was incorrect, though, as the ACU found that these files were created after February 14.
Shohely was caught in a web and had no choice but to confess. She was accused by the ICC of trying to manipulate a match and interfering with the inquiry, among other five violations of the Anti-Corruption Code.
Shohely was given a five-year suspension from all cricket beginning February 10, 2025, in light of the circumstances. Shohely Akhter’s career is essentially over because there is no appeal process for the suspension.
