Bangla Tigers Mississauga finished third on the GT20 points table, but were eliminated after rain washed out the Eliminator against Toronto Nationals. After much drama and controversy, the authorities confirmed that fourth-placed Toronto would progress further and play the second Qualifier.
Usually, a washout in a playoff encounter benefits the higher-ranked team who then advance further, but they made an exception. Toronto eventually went on to win the competition, beating the Montreal Tigers in the final.
After various speculations over the reason for Bangla’s shock elimination, their CEO and owner Zaffir Yasin explains all that transpired in a tell-all interview with Cricket.com.
Organisers make rule changes, take u-turns
The Eliminator and the first Qualifier, both scheduled on August 9 in Brampton, were washed out due to rain. Montreal and Brampton Wolves were to face each other in the Qualifier 1, but the washout ensured table-toppers Montreal made it into the final.
It was not the case in the Eliminator as the organisers were keen to play a game and get a result, according to Yasin.
The GT20 Canada Eliminator between Bangla Tigers Mississauga and Toronto Nationals ended in a No Result.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 10, 2024
However, Toronto, who finished fourth in the GT20 Canada points table, advanced to Qualifier 2 over the third-placed Bangla Tigers. 🤔
READ: https://t.co/SUl5S6hrF8 pic.twitter.com/sMBOiszPZk
“On the day we had our Eliminator match against Toronto Nationals, it rained the heaviest; far more than any other day in the competition. So the conditions weren’t fit to play. Even Colin Munro, the skipper of the other team, agreed that the conditions were not fit to play.”
He alleges that the officials decided to alter the ground dimensions to get the puddles near the boundary out of the playing area. “Obviously the conditions were not fit to play. If the conditions were fit to play, why would you reduce the size of the boundary?”
He also says the playing conditions of the tournament were tweaked at the last moment: “on the very first day, they shared some rules and regulations which were set by GT20. In that playing conditions, they clearly mentioned that the GT20 will be following T20 International conditions. As per T20I conditions, there should at least be a five-over game; otherwise the game gets abandoned,” Yasin reveals.
“But one day before the match, and also on the day of the game, they shared a message on Whatsapp saying that a super over will be played in case a 5-over game isn’t possible. You just can’t impose a rule in the middle of the tournament. That doesn’t make sense.”
Bangla Tigers skipper Shakib Al Hasan reasoned with the umpires that the wet outfield was not fit to play on. “On the match day, when the two captains were called for the toss, Shakib [Al Hasan] went to the umpire’s office. Shakib asked the umpires why a five-over match can’t be done because that’s what the ICC rule book says. This is when the umpires responded saying that a five-over match can’t be done because it’s risky but a 1-over match can be done because it carries much less risk,” revealed Yasin.
“Shakib responded after this saying that if the conditions are dangerous for a 5-over game, then they are definitely dangerous for a 1-over game as well.
“There are some reports claiming that we refused to play the match. The first thing is, we know for a fact that if we refuse to play the match, we are gone; knocked out. So are we fools to refuse to play the match? Why would you refuse to play the match?”
According to Yasin, Bangla Tigers for a 10-over game the next day, which Toronto agreed to. However, upon reaching the ground the day after, Bangla Tigers were told they were being disqualified and that Toronto were being awarded the game.
“I spoke to a lot of senior players from the other teams and they were laughing at the tournament committee. They admitted that it made no sense for Toronto to go through.”
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