The Gentleman’s sport took an ungentlemanly turn in Potchefstroom after Bangladesh’s astounding three wicket victory against the defending champions, India. The Bangladesh boys, overcome with emotions charged with aggravation onto the field celebrating their victory and in process rubbing the Indian players the wrong way. A pandemonium ensued in the ground with the retaliation of the players of team India which compelled the Umpires to step in to take the reins of the situation in their own hands.
The Bangladesh players have been accused of acting aggressively out of turn as balls were delivered right to the faces of Indian batsmen, and sledging became a wayward yet common occurrence in the match. With the end of the match the trouble escalated when an alleged Bangladesh player made unsolicited, uncharitable comments towards an Indian player, with which the latter responded with a tackle.
Akbar Ali, the captain for Bangladesh’s cricket team had to apologise on the behalf of the misdemeanour on the part of the team and confessed that emotions may have got the better of the skipper’s teammates involved.
"I don't know exactly (about the incident) but what happened should not have. In the final, emotions can come out and sometimes the boys were getting pumped. As a youngster it should not be happening. In any manner, we have to show respect to our opponents and we should have the respect for the game because cricket is known as the gentleman's game. So, I'll be sorry for my team. India-Bangladesh brings out the spark and before the World Cup final we lost the Asia Cup final to them. So the boys were too pumped up and wanted to take revenge. I will not say that it should be happening but I'm sorry from my side”, said Ali.
India skipper Priyam Garg expressed dejection on witnessing the unruly behaviour of Bangladeshi players on the field. "We were easy. Winning and losing is a part and parcel of the game. But the reaction from the other side was bad. That should not have happened," said Garg, in a post-match press conference.
India coach Paras Mhambrey also expressed concern on the unsolicited aggressive behaviour of the players after the 3-wicket victory.
"Sometimes these things happen. Players can get emotional because there is so much at stake. Whatever happened wasn't good. I think it's not good for cricket as well. I think in the future you got to be careful with these things," stated coach Mhambrey.
Bangladesh required about 178 to be crowned world champions but were in a tough spot after the fall of 6 wickets by the time the score had reached 102. Akbar’s commendable performance of 43* and the former’s partnership with Rakibul Hasan warranted acclaim and steered the Bangladesh cricket team to their victory against the reigning champions, team India, in the Under 19 World Cup of 2020 in South Africa, defeating all odds in a fantastic game of cricket.
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