Bangladesh won first their first ICC Under 19 World Cup defeating India by three wickets at Potchefstroom in South Africa on Sunday (February 9, 2020) and their players celebrated wildly which saw the cricketers from both the teams confronting each other. Some of Bangladesh Under 19 cricketers were also seen aggressively gesticulating at the dejected Indian players slumped on the ground after the loss.
A few players from both sides were seen moved towards each other aggressively each other and an ugly situation was averted after the umpires, support staff of both the teams and other players intervened. India captain Priyam Garg, whose hopes of winning the fifth Under 19 World Cup for India were dashed, called the aggressive celebration of Bangladesh players "dirty".
Even Bangladesh Under 19 captain Akbar Ali was extremely sorry for the "unfortunate incident" which saw his players taunting the Indian team. But Garg maintained that such aggressive behaviour and celebrations was uncalled for and should not have happened.
"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," Garg was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.
Bangladesh, playing in their first ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup Final, came out in the field with an aggressive intent and their top fast bowler Shoriful Islam was seen sledging the Indian batsmen after almost every delivery. In fact, as Bangladesh came close to the Indian target, Shoriful was seen swearing multiple times on camera.
However, his skipper Ali showed maturity beyond his age to apologise on behalf of the players. "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. As a youngster, it shouldn't happen. In any position, in any manner, we have to show 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," said Ali, who scored an unbeaten 43 in a high-pressure situation.
Over the past two years, both teams were involved in close games with India getting the better of them on two important occasions -- the Asia Cup final and tri-series final 2019.
"I'll say India-Bangladesh rivalry bring the part, and before the World Cup final, we lost the Asia Cup final to them a couple of months ago. So I think the boys are really pumped up and take revenge. I won't say it should have happened, but I will be sorry for my side," said Ali.
A source close to the Indian team management told PTI that the emotions ran high during and after the game but "none of the Indian players was at fault".
(With inputs from PTI)
