Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza talks to the media during the pre-match press conference DHAKA TRIBUNE“Actually we didn’t do anything wrong so we shouldn’t do that. Whatever we felt, we just celebrated, we don’t have to say sorry but whatever has happened, match referee was there. Still, I feel that the boys just celebrated," Mashrafe told the media.
“Look, I guess the 20 percent fine that we got, that’s after getting that wicket. We just had a celebration and I think you can look at it as a normal thing. Every team does that if you get a wicket. You always celebrate but there is a law. The match referee might have thought that it went beyond the Code of Conduct. Actually we didn’t mean it but whatever happened is done and we are trying to play a good match [Wednesday],” he said.Also read - Sabbir, Mashrafe fined but nothing on Stokes issue
Mashrafe also stated that he doesn't see fault of Tamim Iqbal or any of his team mates during the hand shake formalities after the game. “I saw the video and I didn’t find any fault of Tamim or my players. I am not saying it's anyone's fault but at the same time, I didn’t find any fault in Tamim. We went normally to shake hands with the players. When we lost the first match, we were normal back then as well, and even after winning the second match we went to shake hands normally," he said.
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"I don’t want to blame anyone, but if you speak of Tamim’s fault then I will tell you that I have seen the video and I was there ahead of him (Tamim) at that point of time, I will tell you that there is no fault of him. I didn’t hear Tamim say anything or see him do anything. "See, even if anyone has a fault here, I want to forget that and just play cricket. I don’t want to say England were at fault. We got fined, Sabbir and I, because of our excessive celebration which at this point of time is not allowed in the ICC's Code of Conduct. See in such exciting moments, you have seen in the past as well, people celebrate this way. Take for instance, in the [2015] World Cup against England, when we had won we celebrated this way, but maybe at that point of time this law wasn’t there. So we have to be careful," he added.
Mashrafe takes shelter under an umbrella amid pouring rain DHAKA TRIBUNEHowever, the 33-year old said he has no other option but to accept the ICC’s decision while he also added that there will be no such incidents in future.
"Look, we have come to play, we will obviously want to win. Now if you want to do something outside and then win the game, then that will create unnecessary pressure on themselves. We are just thinking of playing our game normally and nothing else," he concluded.