ICC plays down own President’s criticism after Rohit Sharma no-ball controversy

Rohit Sharma got a second chance when umpire Aleem Dar lost the plot and controversially signalled a no-ball when Rohit was caught off a Rubel Hossain delivery. (Source: AP)

The International Cricket Council has backed match officials criticised by the governing body’s own president over a controversial no-ball decision in Thursday’s World Cup quarter-final between India and Bangladesh. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)

India opener Rohit Sharma was caught in the deep off a delivery from paceman Rubel Hossain that umpire Aleem Dar deemed was an above waist-height no-ball but replays contradicted his opinion, showing the delivery was fair.

Rohit, then on 90, went on to hit 137 off 126 balls as the defending champions defeated Bangladesh by 109 runs to book a place in the semi-finals.

READ: Giant leap for Rohit Sharma gives India its semi step

Mustafa Kamal, a former Bangladesh Cricket Board chief and now the ICC president, was incensed by the umpiring and urged the governing body to look into the matter.

“From what I have seen, the umpiring was very poor,” Kamal told Bangladeshi reporters after the match. “There was no quality in the umpiring.

READ: When Rohit Sharma got no-ball reprieve

“It seemed as if they had gone into the match with something in mind. I am speaking as a fan, not as the ICC president. Umpires may make mistakes.

“The ICC will see if this was done deliberately. Everything is on record. The ICC has to investigate and inquire the issue to see if there’s anything to it.”

In response, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson hit back at Kamal for his comments.

“The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal’s comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity,” former South Africa wicketkeeper Richardson said in a statement.

“As an ICC President, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned.

“The no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire’s decision is final and must be respected.

“Any suggestion that the match officials had ‘an agenda’ or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted in the strongest possible terms.”

Source:: Indian Express