India U-19 captain Priyam Garg has referred the aggressive celebration of Bangladesh players as “dirty” after their maiden title win at the Under-19 World Cup. Some of the Bangladeshi players were seen in an altercation with their Indian counterparts after their historic win on Sunday. While Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali apologised for the nasty incident, Priyam Garg felt the incident was dirty.
“We were easy. We think it’s part and parcel of the game – you win some and you lose some. But their reaction was dirty. I think it shouldn’t have happened. But it’s okay,” Priyam Garg was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.
Even during the game, Bangladesh players were too aggressive while fielding and their pace bowler Shoriful Islam was seen sledging the Indian batsmen after every delivery he bowled. However, Akbar Ali handled maturely and apologised as well.
“What happened, it should not [have] happened. I don’t know what exactly happened. I didn’t ask what was going on. But, you know, in the final, emotion can come out, and sometimes the boys were getting pumped, and emotions were coming through,” he added.
“As a youngster, it shouldn’t happen. In any position, in any manner, we have to show the respect to the opponent, we should have respect for the game. Cricket is known for being a gentleman’s game. So I’ll say, I’ll be sorry for my team,” said Ali, who played a composed knock of unbeaten 43 in the final.
Over the past two years, both teams have faced each other many times including high-pressure finals too, including the Asia Cup final and tri-series final last year.
“I’ll say India-Bangladesh rivalry bring the part, and before the World Cup final, we lost the Asia Cup final to them a couple of months ago. So I think the boys are really pumped up and take a revenge. I won’t say it should have happened, but I will be sorry for my side,” added Bangladesh captain.
However, a source near to the Indian team management said to the PTI that the emotions were high during the nail-biting final and after the game as well but
“none of the Indian players was at fault”.
