Sports
ICC president Kamal sniffs conspiracy in Bangladesh's defeat
Melbourne/New Delhi/Dhaka, March 20
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Mustafa Kamal has accused
the umpires of favouritism in Bangladesh's 109-run defeat against India
in a World Cup quarter-final which has triggered angry reactions in the
country. His sentiments have been echoed by fans and supporters in
Bangladesh.
But the Indian cricket board and the ICC chief executive rubbished the accusations.
Kamal,
the ICC president, who hails from Bangladesh, said it could have been a
deliberate attempt to throw out his country from the quadrennial event.
"It
could be deliberate. Though I can't say it absolutely but it looks like
that. I know in cricket, human errors are quite possible, but how can a
dozen decisions go against Bangladesh? It was very, very poor
umpiring," Kamal was quoted as saying by ABP News in Dhaka on Friday.
Kamal said such horrendous umpiring decisions came as a shock to him.
"I
was there in the ground and I saw whatever happened. What happened was
just not on, so many mistakes cannot take place in a single match. It
naturally created a furore among the fans," he said.
Kamal made
it clear that the issue would be raised in the next ICC meeting. He said
he was also surprised at the slogans on display boards across the MCG,
which read "Jitega bhai jitega, India jitega (only India will win)".
He also admitted that such slogans on the screens were a violation of the ICC rules.
"Umpiring
errors killed the game, but I was surprised how could messages
supporting India be displayed on the giant screens. It looked as if
India's win was pre-decided. I told the ICC CEO (Dave Richardson) about
it and even he said it was wrong and should be stopped. In spite of that
it didn't stop. Such things are gonna kill the game," Kamal alleged.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will lodge a complaint with the ICC about poor umpiring.
But
ICC chief executive David Richardson dismissed Kamal's comments terming
them as "personal" and said they were not made in his capacity as the
ICC president.
“The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal's comments,
which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity. As an ICC
president, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC
match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned.
The
no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that
the umpire's decision is final and must be respected," Richardson said.
Richardson
said any allegation of favouritism was baseless and urged the fans to
look at the positive developments emerging from the ongoing tournament.
"Any
suggestion that the match officials had "an agenda" or did anything
other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are
refuted in the strongest possible terms.
We now look forward to
an exciting last few matches of what has been a very successful and
interesting ICC Cricket World Cup 2015," he added.
There were
angry protests in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. In the Dhaka University
area, an effigy was seen burning with protesters chanting the names of
the two on-field umpires. Protest processions were also brought out in
some parts of Dhaka, according to television reports.
However,
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur
countered Kamal's statements and asserted that India won on their own
strength.
"He has raised some issues, he has the right to do so
but if anyone has any complaints he should use the correct platform. He
is the ICC president and I wish he would have blurted out these things
in the ICC which would have been more appropriate.
"Bangladesh
lost by more than 100 runs, it was a significant encounter but they lost
it, so they can be angry and sad, but India won on their own strength
and they are ready for the games to come," concluded Thakur.
The
biggest controversy of the match erupted in the 40th over of the Indian
innings as opener Rohit Sharma was held in the deep off a Rubel Hossain
high full toss. The umpires called it a no-ball citing it was over waist
high, but television replays showed it was not. Rohit went on to punish
Bangladesh, scoring 47 more runs to end at 137.