Bangladesh’s historic victory over India in the finals of the ICC U19 World Cup 2020 in South Africa was marred by a scuffle that took place between the players of two teams.
After hitting the winning runs, the entire Bangladeshi squad ran towards the center of the pitch, while one of the Bangladeshi cricketers was seen taunting the Indian players.
What transpired next was a brawl-like situation in the middle of the ground between the youngsters. After investigation, three players from Bangladesh – Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, and Rakibul Hasan, and two players from India – Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi were suspended for 4-10 games.
Bangladeshi pacer Shoriful Islam, in a recent interaction, recalled their heartbreaking loss in the Asia Cup and revealed that the Tigers wanted to give it back to the Indians.
“Actually, we lost two close matches against them in the past. One was the Asia Cup semi-final [in 2018] and the other was a [Asia Cup] final [in 2019]. I can’t describe what those defeats felt like,” Shoriful told Daily Star.
Islam went on to justify the behavior of the players by bringing in an angle of vengeance post-heartbreaking loss to India at the senior level.
“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,” continued Islam.
Furthermore, Islam commented that the team was looking for an opportune moment for wild celebrations in front of the defending champions.
“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,” concluded the pacer.
