Umpires are humans. They are bound to make mistakes. If the errors are being committed on a regular basis by an umpire, the team on the receiving end should take the matter to the match referee. All these are the basic steps for a situation which involves wrong decisions by the umpires.
But what happened in a Dhaka Second Division Cricket League in Bangladesh will surprise all of you. An encounter between two clubs, ‘Axiom’ and ‘ Lalmatia’, was taking place at the City Club Cricket Ground. What happened in the second innings of the match happened for the first time in the history of cricket.
Mahmud made sure that the match got over in the first over itself. He bowled 65 wide balls, 15 no balls to make sure that the winning target is achieved in four legitimate deliveries. It is crazier than it sounds. But it was the reality and was performed intentionally.
Adnan Rahman Dipon, General Secretary of Lalmatia, spoke to Dhaka Tribune after the unusual match, ‘It started at the toss. My captain was not allowed to see the coin and we were sent in to bat first and … the umpires’ decisions went against us.’ He further added, ‘My players are young, aged around 17, 18 and 19. They could not tolerate the injustice and thus reacted by giving away 92 runs in four deliveries.’
Well, it was not the first time that such an incident took place in the tournament. Earlier in the tournament, Tasnim Hasan, bowler of Fear Fighters Sporting Club, gave away 69 runs in just seven legitimate deliveries to protest against poor umpiring decisions. If such things happen so frequently in a tourney, it is the responsibility of the organisers to get it sorted. On the part of the players, performing such an act does not support the spirit of the game. Decisions, at times, go against you. Fighting hard to win the match in such a situation should always be the priority. Protests such as these go against the stature of the sport.
