What happened after India-Bangladesh U-19 WC final match?

Bangladesh cricket players react after winning the ICC Under-19 World Cup cricket finals between India and Bangladesh at the Senwes Park, in Potchefstroom, on 9 February 2020. Photo: AFP
Bangladesh cricket players react after winning the ICC Under-19 World Cup cricket finals between India and Bangladesh at the Senwes Park, in Potchefstroom, on 9 February 2020. Photo: AFP

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned three Bangladeshi and two Indian players as they violated the code of conduct during the U-19 World Cup final on Sunday.

The decision followed undesirable incidents after a historic match for Bangladesh clinching their first World Cup win across all levels.

The altercation began as the winning team were celebrating their victory after the match. Overjoyed Bangladeshi players ran to the field after Rakibul Hasan took the winning run. Some went to hug Akbar Ali, the winning captain, while others tied the flag around his neck. There were overwhelming celebrations everywhere when the players of the two opponent teams locked into the scuffle.

At one point, the young cricketers started pushing and shoving one another. Following the incident, the ICC had declared to run an inquiry for details.

What triggered such undesirable incident?

"What happened should not have happened," Akbar Ali said in a post-match press conference. "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 the respect to the opponent, we should have respect for the game," ESPNcricinfo quoted him saying.
But there were constant sledging on the pitch during the game, which turned excessive at several points, according to the Bangladesh team. Occasionally, the Indian players were making objectionable remarks on the families of the Bangladesh opponents.

And this may have contributed to the tensions at the end of the match, said the young players.

Bangladesh and India have become big cricket rivals recently, Akbar said. He added that this might have led to the excessive emotions among the two teams. Regretting the incident on behalf of the team he said, "I don't think it was right, but I'm saying sorry on behalf of the team."

The India captain, Priyam Garg, however, blamed Bangladesh for the whole incident. "We were easy. We think it's part and parcel of the game - you win some and you lose some," ESPNcricinfo reported him as saying. "But their reaction was dirty."

After conducting an investigation, the ICC found Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct while it sanctioned India's Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi.

Hridoy, Hossain and Singh were all handed six demerit points, with Rakibul and Bishnoi given five for the post-match incidents.

Bishnoi, the tournament's leading wicket-taker, was slapped with a further two demerit points for using "language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter" after dismissing Avishek Das.