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ICC hit back at bizarre fixing claim

ICC chief Dave Richardson responds after ICC president Mustafa Kamal threatens to resign over umpiring

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief David Richardson has hit back at suggestions from the ICC's Bangladeshi president that India's World Cup quarter-final victory over Bangladesh was "pre-decided".

ICC President Mustafa Kamal has threatened to resign over the umpiring during India's 109-run win at the MCG on Thursday night, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) say they will file an appeal after claiming several close decisions had gone against their team.

India's innings of 6-302 was powered by a blistering 137 from opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who was caught at deep mid-wicket when he was on 90 only for umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould to signal a no-ball for the ball being above waist height.

Replays suggested the delivery from Rubel Hossain was in fact below the waist. Richardson said it was "a 50-50 call".

Watch the incident in our match highlights

Kamal told Bangladeshi reporters in Melbourne that he would raise the issue at the ICC's next meeting.

"As the ICC president, whatever I have to say I will say it in next meeting. It could happen that maybe I will resign," Kamal said.

"There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged.

"From what I have seen, the umpiring was very poor. I am speaking as a fan, not as the ICC president.

"Umpires may make mistakes. The ICC will see if this was done deliberately.

"Everything is on record. The ICC has to investigate and inquire the issue to see if there's anything to it.

"I am talking about the overall umpiring. I saw what all of you saw.

"They will review it. Everyone is speaking against the umpires so definitely the ICC will find out whether there were any wrongdoings."

Kamal also suggested the ICC's acronym stood for 'Indian Cricket Council'.

"I cannot represent the Indian Cricket Council. If someone has imposed a result on us, in that case no one can accept it," added Kamal.

Kamal's comments sparked Richardson into action, who issued a statement on Friday evening (AEDT).

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ICC chief executive Dave Richardson// Getty

"The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal’s comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity," Richardson said.

"As an ICC President, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned.

"The no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire’s decision is final and must be respected.

"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.

"We now look forward to an exciting last few matches of what has been a very successful and interesting ICC Cricket World Cup 2015."

In a separate interview with Indian news outlet ABP News, Kamal also criticised the messages of support for India that he says were displayed on the big screen at the MCG.

"Umpiring errors killed the game, but I was surprised how could messages supporting India be displayed in the giant screens," Kamal was quoted as saying.

"It looked as if India’s win was pre-decided. I told the ICC CEO (Dave Richardson) about it and he even said it was wrong and should be stopped.

"In spite of that it didn't stop. Such things are really bad for the game."

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ICC President Mustafa Kamal // Getty

Kamal continued: "The umpiring ... I can't say exactly that it was done deliberately, but it seems it was not done fairly.

"It exceeded the level of human errors. Not one, not two, not three, not four ... a dozen mistakes, a dozen omissions ... all against Bangladesh. How come?" 

Kamal took over as ICC president from New Zealander Allan Isaac last year. The position is primarily ceremonial.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan said the board will discuss the umpiring with the ICC.

"Naturally we will appeal against these decisions in our report," Hassan said.

"It won't change the result, unfortunately. One wrong decision can make a huge difference in a World Cup quarter-final.

"I have had discussions with the ICC President (Mustafa Kamal) as no one else among the senior (ICC) officials were here in Melbourne.

"Legally what needs to be done, we will do it."

Fairfax Media is reporting Umpires Dar and Gould have discussed the possibility of taking legal action over Kamal's comments.

Bangladesh fans were also upset at the dismissal of star batsman Mohammad Mahmudullah on Thursday night, who was given out caught by India's Shikhar Dhawan, whose foot appeared to be close to touching the boundary rope.

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Bangladesh fans prepare to burn an effigy of Aleem Dar // Getty

India's batsman Suresh Raina was also the beneficiary of a tight lbw decision, with Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza openly expressing his disappointment when the Hawk Eye ball-tracking system showed the ball to be pitching just outside the left-hander's leg-stump.

Many Bangladesh fans wept after the defeat while protestors also burned an effigy of Dar, who hails from Bangladesh's great rival Pakistan.

Bangladesh's exit dominated the front-page headlines on Friday with many commentators blaming the umpiring for the defeat.

"Tigers fall to controversial calls," read the lead in the Dhaka Tribune while the headline of the mass-circulation Bengali daily, Kaler Kantha, read: "The dream run ends in umpiring scandal."