BCB objected after QF: CEO
Ever wondered why Aleem Dar, one of the more experienced umpires of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Elite Panel wasn't given an opportunity to officiate a single knock-out match after the Bangladesh-India quarterfinal?
Well, the reason behind that move might just have something to do with a complaint made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), soon after their exit from the World Cup.
BCB CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury told reporters yesterday that the board had written a letter to the ICC CEO raising a couple of issues following that quarterfinal match and one of those dealt with poor umpiring.
“We had lodged a complaint within 24 hours of the end of the match. We categorically raised a few umpiring issues,” said Nizamuddin. He also added that the BCB complained with regards to the phrases, supporting India, displayed on the scorecard during the game. “We requested the ICC to take corrective measures and I feel that it was quite evident that we were successful,” Nizamuddin said without elaborating.
It is understood that the complaint was taken seriously; something that was evident in the following games.
The fact that the BCB had lodged a complaint was revealed by the BCB CEO yesterday in response to a legal notice served by a Supreme Court lawyer, Eunus Ali Akond.
The notice was served yesterday on the authorities of the BCB requesting them to file an appeal with the ICC for punishing the umpires for their 'wrong decisions' in the quarterfinal clash. Eunus Ali sent the legal notice to the team manager of the BCB, its president and secretary to the sports ministry, asking them to submit the appeal within 24 hours. He also asked the BCB to seek adequate compensation.
Referring to the legal notice, the lawyer said that there were a number of decisions that the umpires had given against Bangladesh.
According to him the legal notice also brought up the case of the rescheduling of venues prior to the Bangladesh-India game. He claimed that the ICC authorities had illegally rescheduled the match on March 19 from March 21 and that the game was supposed to be held in Wellington in New Zealand instead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.
While Eunus Ali did bring the issue up on the legal notice, the fact remains that the ICC had clearly defined its scheduling policy long ago. According to it, the host countries would receive the advantage of playing in their own dens. And since only one out of the four quarterfinal matches was scheduled to take place in New Zealand, that venue was reserved for the Black Caps. As a result, the Tigers played India in Melbourne.
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