Bangladesh will win next WC, says sports min
Dhaka: Bangladesh Sports Minister Biren Sikder on Sunday said his country will win the next cricket World Cup. He blamed ‘umpiring bias’ for the exit of the Tigers from the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup at the hands of India on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com. He made the remark at a college function in his constituency in Magura, the place vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan hails from. Journalists had sought his reaction to the outcome of the quarter-final match against defending champions India. Cricket fans in Bangladesh have been protesting against alleged umpiring errors in the match. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, too, has said Bangladesh were made to lose the match. Sikder said Bangladesh would complain to the International Cricket Council (ICC) against what is being perceived as flawed umpiring decisions. “There was bad umpiring, extreme injustice,” he said. He urged cricketers to reply to this ‘injustice’ by winning the next World Cup. “We want to show the world through hard work that we can make history as a strong team,” Sikder said. Hasina has also said Bangladesh will become world champions some day.
ICC president Kamal rules out resignation
Dhaka: International Cricket Council (ICC) president Mustafa Kamal has dismissed "rumours" that he was resigning his post. Kamal had termed the umpiring in Bangladesh's quarterfinal match against India as "poor" and threatened to step down after the match on March 19, reports bdnews24.com. "It seems the ICC has become the Indian Cricket Council. I am not the president of the Indian Cricket Council," Kamal, who is also the planning minister of the Bangladesh government, reportedly told media after his team's 109-run defeat on Thursday against India in the quarter-finals of the ongoing cricket World Cup. Kamal also said that if ICC did not probe the matter and take measures against it, he would step down as its president. When news of his resignation spread on social media sites, Kamal’s ministry issued a media statement terming the news as "rumour". The statement said Kamal himself confirmed that he had not resigned from ICC.
Make Riaz new ODI captain: Rameez Raja
Sydney: Former captain Rameez Raja says it was right time to thrust paceman Wahab Riaz into captaincy since he has "ingredients" to take Pakistan cricket team in the right direction. Riaz delivered one of the most memorable and fierce fast bowling spells against Australia in the lost quarterfinal. "What I saw of him against Australia convinces me that he's got it in him to make it big as a leader because he showed aggression, passion and emotion and that is what is required right now to put Pakistan cricket back on track. "The team think tank have not really been able to give Pakistan that aggressive tag that its renowned for and I've been very disappointed with the route that we have taken. Pakistan cricket is about emotion, about showing passion and to a certain degree about being unpredictable in a healthy way, which makes it so romantic," Raja said. Agencies