BCB to appeal against ‘biased’ decisions

Bangladesh’s World Cup mission ended due to controversial decisions of umpires in quarter-final match against India on Thursday.
Bangladesh disappointed with the LBW review sought by Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza for controversial ‘No-Ball’ from Rubel Hossain to Rohit Sharma and Mahmudullah’s controversial ‘catch’ taken by Shikhar Dhawan from the boundary-line.
The questions arise whether these decisions were taken to hold India at their mission of defending World Cup trophy.
Hundreds of Bangladesh cricket supporters on Thursday burnt an effigy of Pakistani cricket umpire Aleem Dar and Ian Gould and marched in the capital Dhaka after the country was knocked out of the World Cup.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan Papan decided to appeal to International Cricket Council (ICC) officially against these controversial decisions of umpires.
BCB president on Thursday said, ‘We’ll speak against these decisions in our report. Unfortunately, it won’t change the result of the match. In the World Cup quarter-final match, a wrong decision can make big factor.’
The ICC president AHM Mustafa Kamal has threatened to quit over the umpiring in his country's World Cup quarter-final defeat to India, suggesting the match appeared to have been fixed.
Mustafa Kamal told Bangladeshi reporters in Melbourne after Thursday's match at the MCG that he would raise the issue at the ICC's next meeting, saying the umpires' decisions seemed to have been ‘pre-arranged’.
‘As the ICC president, whatever I have to say I will say it in next meeting. It could happen that maybe I will resign,’ Kamal said in comments aired on Bangladeshi television.
‘There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged,’ he alleged.
His comments came as protests erupted in Bangladesh after the team suffered a 109-run defeat by holders India.
Sharma was caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Rubel Hossain when he was on 90, only for the umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould to signal a no-ball for what appeared to be a legitimate waist-high delivery.
Bangladeshi fans were also furious at the dismissal of star batsman Mohammad Mahmudullah who was caught close to the boundary rope.
They chanted ‘Shame, Shame. No to ICC conspiracy,’ as they shouted slogans against the umpires and the International Cricket Council after Bangladesh's best ever World Cup came to an end following a 109-run defeat against India.
Fans also protested two other decisions including a catch against Bangladesh's best batsman Mohammad Mahmudullah that snuffled out any hope for a comeback by the Tigers.
‘The umpires were biased. We did not mind if we had been beaten legitimately. But this is pure robbery,’ a Dhaka University student said after joining a protest march.
The match was the biggest in the history of the cricket-mad nation, marking the first time that Bangladesh had made the World Cup quarter-finals.
Many fans wept only after the defeat while protestors also burned an effigy of Dar, who hails from Bangladesh's great rival Pakistan.
Kamal, whose position has been largely ceremonial since India's Narayanaswami Srinivasan became the body's chairman last year, said the ICC's acronym seemed to stand for the Indian Cricket Council.
‘I cannot represent the Indian Cricket Council. If someone has imposed a result on us, in that case no one can accept it,’ added Kamal who is a minister in the Bangladeshi government.
Bangladesh's exit dominated the front-page headlines on Friday with, many commentators blaming shoddy umpiring for the defeat.