cricket

Updated: Sep 11, 2020 22:21 IST

India U19 captain Priyam Garg termed Bangladesh’s reaction after winning the U19 World Cup as ‘dirty’. The India U19 and Bangladesh U19 players were involved in an ugly altercation after Bangladesh beat India in a closely contested final by 3 wickets (DLS method) to claim their first ever ICC trophy at any level at Potchefstroom in South Africa. The spat took place which also turned physical after Bangladesh’s Rakibul Hasan hit the winning runs and the entire Bangladesh team including their support staff came running onto the field. Apparently something was said to the Indian players by the Bangladesh cricketers which did not go down well and the matter soon spiralled into a fight.

“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 Garg as saying.

WATCH VIDEO: ‘Shameful end’: India and Bangladesh players involved in ugly fight after U19 World Cup final

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.

There were a lot of heated moments in the U19 World Cup final. The Bangladesh new ball bowlers Shorful Islam and Sakib gave a hard time to the Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyansh Saxena with the ball and they also had a lot to say to the left-handers. Shorful also gave a send-off to Jaiswal after he was dismissed for 88.

The Indian bowlers and fielders too were chirpy in return.

This is not the first time India U19 and Bangladesh U19 played a heated a match. The Asia Cup 2019 final between the two sides, which India won by 5 runs was also filled with moments like these.

“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 a revenge,” Akbar said.