Bangladesh, South Africa cricketers get embroiled in physical altercation!
An unsightly incident happened on the cricket field in an Emerging Teams’ four-day match between Bangladesh and South Africa in Dhaka. With Bangladesh batting and South Africa bowling, players of both teams got involved in a heated altercation, leading to a brawl in the middle of the pitch. The incident was triggered after an exchange between 22-year-old Bangladesh batter Ripon Mondol and 29-year-old Proteas pacer Tshepo Ntuli. The fight was soon joined by other players of the team. No immediate action has been taken yet, but the umpires are set to file an official report before sanctions are imposed. As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, Ripon had initially smashed a straight six off Ntuli’s bowling, leading to an exchange of glares between the bowler and the batter. However, after that, as Ripon moved towards his batting partner, Ntuli charged towards the Bangladesh batter. The two players were at first involved in a shove, which quickly turned into a bigger brawl. Ntuli pulled Ripon’s helmet on multiple occasions, despite the attempted interference of umpire Kamruzzaman. Some of the on-looking South African players also appeared to enter the fight. It is unclear whether there had been any verbal exchange between the two prior which may have preceded the heated altercation. Three balls after the incident, Ntuli threw the ball back at Ripon after bowling it, which the Bangladesh batter fended off. “This is extreme, this is unacceptable. Normally we see verbal altercations in a cricket field but we don’t often see a fight. Ntuli struck Ripon’s helmet at one point,” Nabil Kaiser, one of the on-air commentators, said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. As per the report, the match referee will submit reports of the incident to both the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), before official action is taken.
BCB wants Mustafizur to prioritize national commitment above IPL
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants Mustafizur Rahman to put national commitment above IPL 2025 duties. The pacer was signed as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk by Delhi Capitals for the remainder of IPL 2025. However, Rahman boarded a flight to the UAE for the upcoming T20I series on the same day he signed with DC. As per Cricbuzz, a BCB director claimed that while the board has no problem in allowing Rahman to play for DC in IPL 2025, it wants him to prioritize national duties. “We are not saying that we won’t let Mustafizur play in the IPL for the Delhi Capitals, but at the same time, there is a thing called national commitment, and he needs to fulfill that,” a BCB director said. The official said that it would be unfair for Nahid Rana and Rishad Hossain, who were a part of PSL but are traveling to the UAE for the T20I series, if Rahman was given a NOC. The BCB director claimed that in that case, the other two would also have to be released from the squad. “Along with that, if we had released him in that case, what would we have done with the two cricketers who took part in PSL, as they could have asked why we were not releasing them?” he added. For the uninformed, the Bangladesh cricket team are set to play a 2-match T20I series against the UAE from May 17 to 19. Understanding that foreign players may not return, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to allow teams to use temporary replacements. And so, the Capitals paid Mustafizur Rs 6 crore to join them. The move made sense since Mitchell Starc might not return either. And having a like-for-like replacement for him seems like a sound decision.
