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Left fuming after he was denied the honour of handing over the World Cup winners' trophy, Mustafa Kamal today resigned as ICC President and launched a scathing attack on the world cricket body's Chairman N Srinivasan, calling him "rotten".
"I am just sending my resignation to the ICC...I was not allowed to work in line with the ICC constitution and I cannot work with them beyond the ICC constitution," he told a crowded press conference at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here today.
Kamal was livid at not being given the opportunity to hand out the World Cup trophy to champions Australia and had left the Melbourne Cricket Ground even before the final finished. Instead, Srinivasan handed over the trophy to Australian skipper Michael Clarke.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board President today launched an extraordinary attack on Srinivasan after returning to the country.
Calling him "rotten and controversial", Kamal said the ICC could well now be called the "Indian Cricket Council".
"I feel bad even to mention his name. If that man is in charge of cricket, how will cricket run?" Kamal said.
"These type of people should be away from cricket, these kind of people are polluting the game. Otherwise cricket will be spoilt. It is my earnest request to the ICC to revisit these things and people should research why I have resigned," he added.
Kamal was reportedly denied the honours after he blamed poor umpiring for Bangladesh's comprehensive loss to India in the quarterfinals. The ICC was forced to issue a statement to reject his charges.
This reportedly infuriated Srinivasan, who wasn't amused after hearing Kamal's comments on record. While the former BCCI president didn't say anything in public, he did express his displeasure to the ICC board members and questioned as to how can Kamal pinpoint on one wrong umpiring decision and take it as an isolated case.
Kamal claimed he was asked to withdraw his comments.
"I will not withdraw the statement because it was the sentiment of 160 million people. Then they told me, if you can't submit an apology or withdraw the statement, you can't present the trophy," he said.
