The scenes at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom indicated that cricket will be far from being a gentleman’s game. After all, instead of shaking hands immediately after a thrilling Under-19 World Cup final, India and Bangladesh cricketers were involved in an ugly spat.
While the host broadcaster understandably didn’t show the footage, videos that surfaced on social media indicated that there wasn’t just some in-your-face celebration from Bangladesh cricketers but it was also followed up with pushing and shoving among the players. In fact, the customary handshakes took place just before the official presentation, almost 15 minutes since the conclusion of the match.
While India Under-19 captain Priyam Garg termed his neighbours’ overzealous celebration as “dirty”, his Bangladesh counterpart Akbar Ali said “sorry” on behalf of his team in the post-match press conference.
India team manager had told ESPNcricinfo on Sunday that match referee Graeme Labrooy had apologised to him for the ugly scenes. Patel then confirmed on Monday that the match officials had a long meeting with both the team representatives on Monday morning to discuss the events after the final.
“We were asked to present a detailed account, which we have done. We have no further plan to initiate any complaint of action. Since the tournament is over, it’s up to the ICC to decide how to deal with it,” Patel told Sportstar over phone on Monday evening.
Sportstar understands that Labrooy, the former Sri Lanka pacer, will follow the protocol and submit a detailed report to ICC about the spat. However, considering the match saw the end of yet another biennial cycle of Under-19 cricket, it is unlikely that any cricketers is likely to face sanctions from the global governing body.
The final was a highly-charged affair with the colts from both the subcontinental neighbours carrying on their rivalry from the last year’s Asia Cup final. In fact, the manner in which abuses were hurled at each other right from the word go in the final just indicated that the youngsters don’t just pick up skills from their revered seniors.
With Rahul Dravid heading Indian cricket’s talent development vertical at the National Cricket Academy, it would be imperative for him to ensure that Sunday night would not set a trend for generations to follow.
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