Bangladesh could become the new Asian champions should the Bangladesh Cricket Board win an appeal they decided to lodge regarding the incident where Aizaz Cheema of Pakistan was seen deliberately blocking Mahmudullah from taking a second run in Thursday’s Asia Cup final.
The cricket operations committee of the BCB on Saturday decided to appeal to the ACC, which if granted, will earn Bangladesh five runs as penalty, enough for the Tigers to be declared as winners of the game.
Cheema blocked Mahmudullah when the batsman was attempting a second run in the first ball of the final over. It not only denied Bangladesh a crucial run, but also denied Mahmudullah, the last recognised batsman, the strike.
Bangladesh, who lost the game agonisingly by two runs,   could collect only six runs from the over while they needed nine to win the game and the tournament.
‘We have seen video footage of the incident repeatedly. It is clear that Cheema blocked Mahmudullah deliberately,’ said Enayet Hossain Siraj, chairman of the cricket operations committee.
‘As per rules, we should have been awarded five runs as penalty and the ball should have been declared dead. We have seen umpire [Ian Gould] warning Cheema, but it is unclear to us why he did not declare it as dead-ball and award us the runs.’
‘We will lodge a written appeal to the ACC very soon and will also give a copy to the ICC,’ he said.