International Cricket Council President AHM Mustafa Kamal may resign amid controversy triggered by dubious umpiring decisions leading to Bangladesh’s loss against India in the second quarter-final of the World Cup of cricket at Melbourne, Australia yesterday.
Kamal, who is also Bangladesh’s planning minister, said the ICC was not the International Cricket Council anymore. He was shown on Bangladeshi television channels saying: “It has become the Indian Cricket Council...One can be part of the ICC but not the Indian Cricket Council.”
The leading force of the so-called “Big Three,” India can count themselves extremely lucky to have enjoyed the rub of the green on numerous occasions yesterday, writes Dhaka Tribunes Mazhar Uddin from Melbourne.
It all started in the 34th over bowled by Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza. Suresh Raina, batting on 10, was struck on the pads but on-field umpire Ian Gould denied the appeal. Mashrafe appeared pretty confident and asked for a review.
Even though the ball pitched in the trajectory of the leg stump, TV umpire Steve Davis retained the decision of the on-field umpire which surprised Mashrafe a great deal. It was, at best, a marginal and tendentious call.
Raina went on to punish the Tigers dearly, eventually scoring 65 off 57 balls before he was finally dismissed by Mashrafe in the 43rd over.
The worst decision, however, came in the 40th over bowled by Rubel Hossain as Rohit Sharma was batting on 90. The fourth delivery of the over was a full toss which Rohit hoicked towards the mid-wicket region where Imrul Kayes was waiting. The ball sailed straight down towards Kayes’ throat – and he made no mistake. The Bangladesh cricketers started celebrating but little did they know that English umpire Gould would signal a no-ball even before consulting with leg-umpire Aleem Dar.
Replays, however, clearly showed that the ball was dipping on its way to the right-hander and was below the waist. Bangladesh supporters watched in disbelief as the giant screen repeatedly showed the replay.
Journalists from both the nations were also shocked in the press box, writes our sports correspondent Mazhar.
The Bangladesh cricketers could not believe the decision that came their way but were ultimately helpless as they had already used up their review. All Mashrafe could do was talk with Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar.
It would have been a different scenario had the umpires, at the very least, referred it to the third umpire.
Rohit went on to smash his seventh ODI ton and his first in a World Cup. After that horrible decision, Rohit faced 24 balls and blasted 47 runs before he was finally cleaned up by a clinical yorker from Taskin Ahmed.
India eventually ended on 302/6 in 50 overs as Bangladesh’s momentum, along with their confidence, was cruelly snatched away by the umpires.
But, the umpires were not done yet.
Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s best batsman in this World Cup, smacked a Mohammed Shami delivery towards the deep fine-leg region. Shikhar Dhawan took the catch just on the boundary rope.
Rather than carefully assessing the replays, Australian umpire Davis was apparently in quite a hurry as he wasted very little time before pressing the red button. At first sight, it appeared that Dhawan might have touched the ropes but Davis clearly thought otherwise, declaring another controversial decision that went against the Tigers.
After that decision, which robbed the Tigers of their in-form target-man, leaving the score at 73 for 3 wickets, the match slipped out of their grasp. A visibly discouraged and depleted Bangladesh finished all out for 193 in 45 overs, 110 runs short of their target.
Immediately after the match, fans took to the streets in Dhaka in protest and social media were flooded by outrage, particularly at umpire Aleem Dar’s decision of a no ball when Rohit Sharma was caught off Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain. Rohit ended up scoring a century that ultimately gave India the foothold for the win.
Bangladesh will appeal to the ICC against the controversial umpiring.