The High Court has issued a ruling demanding an explanation from authorities in Bangladesh asking why they should not file a complaint against former Pakistani cricketer Waqar Younis with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to scrap his name from its list of international commentators.
The ruling on Wednesday came in response to remarks by Younis on Bangladesh cricket and its team captain Shakib Al Hasan during their World Cup match against Sri Lanka on Monday, when the second team’s Angelo Mathews was controversially given "timed out,” becoming the first man to suffer the dismissal in the 146-year history of international cricket.
Besides, the court gave the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and its president 10 days to respond to the ruling.
A bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the ruling after the preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Waliur Rahman Khan on this issue.
In the writ, Younis was criticized for making derogatory comments about Bangladesh cricket and Shakib Al Hasan. During the 38th match of this year’s World Cup, Shakib Al Hasan decided to appeal for a timed-out dismissal of former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. While there is a timed-out rule in the ICC regulations, it has not been implemented previously. Mathews requested a new helmet, which took more than two minutes to complete. Shakib, noticing the delay, informed the umpire of it and Mathews was declared timed out.
Younis, along with Sri Lanka's former cricketer Russel Arnold, criticized Shakib's actions in the commentary box, describing the appeal as "unsportsmanlike behaviour."
Younis specifically targeted Shakib, questioning his actions and criticizing Bangladesh's approach, adding that it was against the spirit of cricket.