Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza’s World Cup woes continued even after the team’s quarter-final exit as he was handed a one-match suspension and slapped with a fine for his team’s slow over-rate.
Mortaza, whose team was found guilty of bowling two overs short in the stipulated time to complete their quota of 50 overs against India, was found to repeat the offence twice after being fined in the England game for a minor over-rate offence.
Match referee Roshan Mahanama subsequently not only docked 40 per cent of his match fee but also suspended him from one limited-overs international after their 109-run loss to India at the MCG.
The team players were also fined 20 per cent of their match fee. Mortaza pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction.
Meanwhile, back in Bangladesh, hundreds of cricket supporters burnt an effigy of Pakistani cricket umpire Aleem Dar and marched in the capital city of Dhaka.
They chanted “Shame, Shame. No to ICC conspiracy,” as they shouted slogans against the umpires and the International Cricket Council. The fans were furious after man-of-the-match Rohit Sharma got a big break on 90 when he holed out to deep mid-wicket off Rubel Hossain, only for Dar and fellow umpire Ian Gould to signal a no-ball for what appeared to be a legitimate waist-high delivery.
Fans also protested two other decisions including a catch against Bangladesh’s best batsman Mohammad Mahmudullah that snuffled out any hope for a comeback by the Tigers. “The umpires were biased. We did not mind if we had been beaten legitimately. But this is pure robbery,” Dhaka University student Mahmudul Hasan said.