THE International Cricket Council (ICC) described the remarks of its own president Mustafa Kamal yesterday as “very unfortunate,” and insists its umpires’ “integrity cannot be questioned.

”Kamal put himself at the centre of a row over umpiring decisions which went the way of India in their World Cup quarter-final victory over Bangladesh in Melbourne on Thursday.

India opener Rohit Sharma was reprieved as he neared his century when a no-ball was called, then Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah Riyal went when a marginal call came down in favour of boundary fielder Shikhar Dhawan when he took a catch near the rope.Bangladeshi politician Kamal’s ICC role is largely ceremonial.

He has nonetheless threatened to resign over the decisions and implied that the match was fixed.“There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged,” he said.

ICC chief executive David Richardson distanced the body from Kamal’s “unfortunate” comments, which were made “in his personal capacity.

“Any suggestion that the match officials had ‘an agenda’ or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted in the strongest possible terms.”

by Our Sports Desk