International Cricket Council (ICC) president Mustafa Kamal has dismissed “rumours” that he was resigning his post.
Mr. Kamal had termed the umpiring in Bangladesh’s quarterfinal match against India as “poor” and threatened to step down after the match on March 19, reported bdnews24.com.
“It seems the ICC has become the Indian Cricket Council. I am not the president of the Indian Cricket Council,” Mr. Kamal, who is also Bangladesh's Planning Minister, reportedly told media after his team’s 109-run defeat on Thursday against India in the quarterfinals of the ongoing cricket World Cup.
The outcome of the match was marred by several controversial umpiring decisions.
Mr. Kamal also said that if the ICC did not probe the matter and take measures against it, he would step down as its president.
When news of his resignation spread on social media sites, Mr. Kamal’s ministry issued a media statement terming the news as a “rumour”.
The statement said Mr. Kamal himself confirmed that he had not resigned from ICC.
Along with former cricketers and analysts, Mr. Kamal came down heavily on the “poor” umpiring in the match.
ICC chief executive Dave Richardson termed Kamal’s comments “very unfortunate”.
“As an ICC president, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned,” Mr. Richardson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Sports Minister Biren Sikder on Sunday said his country will win the next cricket World Cup.
He blamed ‘umpiring bias’ for the exit of Bangladesh from the 2015 World Cup.
He made the remark at a college function in his constituency in Magura, where vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan hails from.
Journalists had sought his reaction to the outcome of the quarterfinal match against defending champions India.
Cricket fans in Bangladesh have been protesting against alleged umpiring errors in the match.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, too, has said Bangladesh were made to lose the match.
Mr. Sikder said Bangladesh would complain to the ICC against what is being perceived as flawed umpiring decisions.
“There was bad umpiring, extreme injustice,” he said.
He urged cricketers to reply to this ‘injustice’ by winning the next World Cup.
“We want to show the world through hard work that we can make history as a strong team,” Sikder said.
Ms. Hasina has also said Bangladesh will become world champions one day.
