Kolkata's ‘Telegraph’ appreciates Mustafa Kamal for challenging Srinivasan

Eastern India's leading English newspaper 'Telegraph' has lauded ICC president and Bangladesh minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for taking on ICC Chairman N Srinivasan.

"Even if it is Bangladesh, somebody has shown the guts to try and take on Srinivasan. He could not seek a second term as BCCI president in India, yet continues to chair the ICC," reads a 'Telegraph' report.

It said: "Many find it extremely odd, and one is putting it mildly, that someone who cannot be the president of his national board remains the top gun in the ICC."

AHM Mustafa Kamal

The 'Telegraph' report said that Kamal will personally brief Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about how he was denied the opportunity to present the World Cup to the winners by Srinivasan.

It said he will be accompanied by Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan, when he briefs the PM.

"The issue has gone beyond that of an individual, thanks to the authoritarian attitude of ICC Chairman Narayanswamy Srinivasan, and is now all about humiliation of Bangladesh," the 'Telegraph' report said.

Since 1999, ICC presidents, rather than the chairpersons, have presented the World Cup to the winners at the presentation ceremony.

N Srinivasan

But Srinivasan outwitted Kamal in a meeting on the day before the World Cup finals and used Kamal's outbursts against umpiring during the India-Bangladesh quarter-finals as an excuse to deny the Bangladesh minister the honours.

That has caused much furore even in India as Srinivasan is not very popular in the country outside his home state Tamil Nadu.

Those who oppose Srinivasan in Indian cricket politics —and the number is not small and includes West Bengal cricket heavyweight Jagmohan Dalmiya—may now look to attack the ICC chairman on grounds that his senseless action is jeopardising India-Bangladesh relations.

Dalmiya, a former ICC top gun, is friendly with cricket administrators in Bangladesh.

From bdnew24.com