Dhaka: Bangladesh Under-19 ace pacer Shoriful Islam revealed that his team celebrated in wild manner after winning the U19 World Cup final against India due to past history.
After Bangladesh won the final beating the Priyam Garg-led side by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.
Sprinting towards the field after a thrilling victory, Bangladeshi players were also believed to have passed unwelcome comments on Indian players which triggered an altercation between both sets of parties.
Shoriful, who was among one of those players who were caught swearing during and after the game, stated that he wanted to make India realise what it feels like to face aggressive celebrations after one has lost as Indian colts did same thing to them after winning Asia Cup semifinal [in 2018] and Asia Cup final [in 2019].
“Actually, we lost two close matches against them (India) in the past. One was the Asia Cup semifinal [in 2018] and the other was a [Asia Cup] final [in 2019]. I can’t describe what those defeats felt like,” Islam told a Bangladesh's newspaper.
“Before taking the field for the final, all I could think about was what they did after winning and how we felt after losing. They celebrated wildly in front of us back then and we couldn’t say anything. We were waiting for the day we would meet them in a final again,” Islam added.
On asked if revenge was on Bangladesh’s mind in the match, Islam said, “Yes. We got the chance. What I wanted was to give it our all. Then they would know what it is like when someone celebrates in front of you like that after you’ve lost.”
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) sanctioned 3 players from Bangladesh and 2 from India for their misconduct and indulging in a scuffle on the field after the match.
From the Bangladesh squad, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan, who struck the winning run, were all found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct while from India, Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi were also sanctioned. The players were handed international suspensions of between four and 10 matches.
