Sridharan Sriram, Bangladesh's technical consultant, on the eve of the Pakistan vs Bangladesh clash, said that they are not here to use fake fielding as an excuse for the loss against India.
"No, we are not here to offer any excuses. I did speak to the fourth umpire as soon as it happened," Sriram said. Set a revised target of 151 in 16 overs after a brief spell of rain, Bangladesh had fell short by five runs against India. Bangladesh wicketkeeper batter Nurul Hasan, who kept his side in the game in the final over with a six and a four off Arshdeep Singh, later accused star India batter Virat Kohli of "fake fielding."
Criticising the on-field umpires after the game, Hasan alleged that they failed to notice an incident of "fake fielding" by Kohli, which could have earned them five runs. "But I think it was the on-field umpire's call, and that's what we were told, but we're not here to offer any excuses," Sriram added.
A video recording showed that Arshdeep threw the ball from the deep and Kohli -- at point -- feigned as if he were relaying it to the non-striker's end. A relay throw is one where the fielder closer to the track catches the ball from deep and throws it at the stumps. The two batters -- Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto -- didn't even look at Kohli and that's why Nurul's argument raises questions.
The Good Old Rain
Bangladesh were on course for a memorable win before rain interrupted play. After the match resumed, they needed 85 runs in nine overs with all wickets in hand but crumbled under pressure.
"Well, it was quite frantic for that brief 10, 12 minutes, which is understandable. I think the boys, nine runs an over or 9.75 runs an over, definitely, I think the pressure got to them a little bit." Sriram said the team has gained a lot of confidence from the match against India despite the loss.
"Well to come that close, if at the start of the game had anybody said that we'll lose to India by five runs, anybody would take it. So I think we got ourselves in an opportunity where we could have beaten India but we were not able to cross the line. But having come to close, I think the boys gained a lot of confidence," he said.
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"It's great learning for them. I think it gives the team a lot of self-belief that if you can challenge a team like India and come so close, we are not far away."
Bangladesh is set to take Pakistan in their last match of the Super 12 stage on November 12.
