Over the last decade and a half that Bangladesh have been playing serious cricket, Tiger fans have made a name as one of the game’s most passionate followers.
This report would not have existed if Rubel’s full-toss to Rohit Sharma was really above waist height; or if the television umpire – after just one view of the replay – had not ruled that Mahmudullah’s hook to the deep square leg boundary was a Dhawan catch and not a sixer.
These two controversial decisions at crucial junctures of what is easily the most important match in Bangladesh’s cricket history could have made a world of difference had they gone the way that appeared right.
Instead, they meant that Rohit ended up adding 47 more runs and propelling India towards a formidable total; and the contribution of Mahmudullah, who was bringing in two back-to-back centuries to this match, was going to be just 31.
It would be an utter understatement if one said that they were instances of bad umpiring; hundreds of Tiger fans, who gathered at the TSC roundabout on the Dhaka University campus yesterday in their customary way for watching the quarter-final draw, did not think that way.
“If the umpires did not save Rohit Sharma by preposterously declaring Rubel’s legitimate delivery as a no-ball, India would not have got 47 extra runs,” said Naadir Junaid, associate professor of Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ) at DU.
“And if in-form Mahmudullah was not given out because of the doubt whether Dhawan’s leg touched the fence, Bangladesh would have managed to form a much-needed partnership which would have made the chase easier. At that stage, the target was absolutely obtainable,” he said.
As immediate reaction the controversial umpiring decisions that sealed Bangladesh’s world cup fate, hundreds of fans, under the banners of Dhaka University Family and the Bangladeshi Cricket Fans, burnt effigies of the umpires at TSC after the match ended.
They also demanded permanent exclusion of those umpires from the ICC panel and proper investigation into the decisions that they had made.
Nuzaira Taranum, a student of MCJ at DU, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Nothing can be worse than ridiculous and unfair umpiring. Sadly, Tigers were at the receiving end of a such injustice in what happens to be the most important match in their history.
“India have won this match, but they cannot claim that they have beaten Bangladesh by playing better cricket.
“The world witnessed how the umpires’ unfair decisions demoralised the Bangladeshi cricketers,” she said.
Fans also criticised the Bangladesh team management for picking out-of-form Imrul Kayes ahead of Muminul Haque.