ICC to investigate spat between India, Bangladesh players after U19 World Cup final – Report
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|| Desk Report ||
Bangladesh produced a gritty performance on Sunday to beat defending champions India by three wickets (DLS) to clinch their maiden U19 World Cup title but the occasion turned ugly as players from both teams got involved in physical altercations after the match.
The Bangladesh players and staff rushed in after Rakibul Hasan scored the winning runs and some of the players got involved in verbal and physical tussles with the India cricketers. India U19 manager Anil Patel said after the encounter that International Cricket Council (ICC) will watch the video and decide accordingly.
“We don’t know what actually happened,” India U19 manager Patel told ESPNcrcinfo. “Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don’t know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know.”
According to Patel, the Indian team management was intending to speak to the match officials, but added that Labrooy, the match referee, himself said the ICC was taking stock of the incident.
“The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session and they are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning [on the next step].”
One India player rushed to confront and pushed a Bangladeshi player who had allegedly said uncharitable things. Soon more players got involved and the pushing shoving continued for about 40-50 seconds even as the on-field umpires and support staff from both the sides tried to separate the cricketers. In the end, it was India U19 coach Paras Mhambrey, who finally managed to calm the boys and lead them into the dressing room.
“We were easy. We think it’s part and parcel of the game - you win some and you lose some. But their reaction was dirty. I think it shouldn’t have happened. But it’s okay,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted India skipper Priyam Garg as saying.
The winning team’s captain Akbar Ali also stated that the incident should not have had happened and apologised for it.
“What happened, it should not [have] happened. I don’t know what exactly happened. I didn’t ask what was going on. But, you know, in the final, emotion can come out, and sometimes the boys were getting pumped, and emotions were coming through,” Ali said.
Akbar also apologised on his team’s behalf.
“As a youngster, it shouldn’t happen. In any position, in any manner, we have to show the respect to the opponent, we should have respect for the game. Cricket is known for being a gentleman’s game. So I’ll say, I’ll be sorry for my team,” he added.
