The last two days have seen two thrilling India-Bangladesh games across different competitions, including a couple of ugly moments that will be added to the long list of controversies between the two Asian teams.
On July 21, Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar and India’s Harshit Rana got into a war of words over a catch during the Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 semi-final, with umpires having to separate the clashing players.
On July 22, India batter Harmanpreet Kaur, unhappy with her dismissal, smashed the stumps with her bat, and later called out the “pathetic umpiring” in the post-match presentation, during the tied ODI between India Women and Bangladesh Women.
Here’s a list of past controversies between the two sides:
The Rohit Sharma no-ball
2015 World Cup quarter-final
Perhaps the most significant moment of India-Bangladesh’s controversial history came in 2015, during Bangladesh’s first-ever World Cup knockout game. When Rohit Sharma pulled a full-toss to deep square-leg with the score on 196-3, Bangladesh celebrated. However, the umpire signalled a waist-high no-ball, with replays suggesting a marginal call.
The decision led to a series of reactions: Bangladesh fans filled social media with images of the full-toss, questioning the call. ICC president Mustafa Kamal then, rather bizarrely, called the umpiring “very poor”, saying there was “no quality in the match”, and that he was “speaking as a fan, and not a president”, while also adding that “ICC will see if this was done deliberately”. The Prime Minister was involved too, with Sheikh Hasina saying that Bangladesh were “made to lose” and that Bangladesh would have won if the umpires did not give wrong decisions.
It led to a counter-reaction from within the ICC, with chief executive Dave Richardson condemning the statements, saying: “As an ICC president, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned.” BCB decided to lodge an appeal.
Dhoni’s photoshopped head
Asia Cup 2016 final
Even a year after the no-ball controversy, there was plenty of criticism directed from Bangladesh cricket fans towards the Indian team. Ahead of the 2016 Asia Cup final, a Photoshopped image of Taskin Ahmed carrying MS Dhoni’s severed head became viral.
Terrible picture of Taskin Ahmed holding MS Dhoni’s chopped head. Cricket is just a game, not some war. pic.twitter.com/H3DU5zNu1o
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) March 5, 2016
It wasn’t the only bit of Photoshop that went viral between the two teams: in 2015, a Bangladesh newspaper carried an image of debutant Mustafizur Rahman, hero of their ODI series win against India that year, over half-shaved heads of Indian batters, suggesting the effects of his “cutters” on them.
The juniors face off
2020 U19 World Cup final
The rivalry between the national teams seeped into their junior setups too. Bangladesh’s nervy win over India at the 2020 U19 World Cup in Potchefstroom was mired in controversy when players from both teams clashed on the pitch. There was shoving involved and disparaging words exchanged, and the brawling players had to be separated.
Three Bangladesh players – Rakibul Hasan, Towrid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain, as well as two Indians – Ravi Bishnoi and Akash Singh – were reprimanded.
Shameful end to a wonderful game of cricket. #U19CWCFinal pic.twitter.com/b9fQcmpqbJ
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) February 9, 2020
Kohli-Rubel’s face-off across two World Cups
2011 & 2015 World Cup
The 2011 World Cup was the first time Virat Kohli and Rubel Hossain, two fiery on-field forces, collided on the pitch. The group-stage game at Mirpur was the World Cup debut for both players. Facing Rubel, Kohli punched a ball back at the bowler, who stared and threatened to throw it back at the India batter. Riled up, Kohli let out a few expletives and got a verbal response from the bowler, but the tension dissipated quickly.
Four years later, at the same event, Rubel got the better of Kohli in the quarter-final in Melbourne after a testing spell and unleashed an animated send-off towards the batter.
Virat Kohli’s ‘fake fielding’
2022 T20 World Cup
A rain-interrupted game that was fraught with tension had its moment of controversy too. Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan accused Virat Kohli of fake fielding – which, under Law 41.5 – can lead to five penalty runs. Hasan said that the five-run penalty could have made a difference in the final outcome. The umpires, however, hadn’t noticed it, and Kohli went scot-free. India won exactly by five runs, according to the DLS method.
Hasan also pointed out that the wet outfield had an impact on Bangladesh’s rain-curtailed chase, with some questioning whether the umpires had resumed the game too early. India won the game but crashed out in the semi-final.
