Our flag was not damaged when players clashed in the U-19 final: Nafees
The left-handed batsman, who is currently playing in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) explained that both teams are young and exuberant and they let emotions get the better of them.
Bangladesh national team player Shahriar Nafees has urged supporters not to make a big fuss over the clashes between the Bangladesh and India players after Bangladesh won the U-19 World Cup final on Sunday.
The left-handed batsman, who is currently playing in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) explained that both teams are young and exuberant and they let emotions get the better of them.
"They are both very young teams, but they will learn and we should not make a big deal out of this," Nafees told The Business Standard.
As soon as Rakibul Hasan hit the winning run, all the Bangladesh players ran to the pitch to celebrate but Shoriful Islam went directly towards an India player and said something.
That resulted in the Indian players retaliating as a melee broke out and at one point a Bangladesh flag got damaged according to some reports.
But Nafees believed that no damage was done to the flag: "I don't think our flag got damaged or torn, but their players (India) did snatch one flag away from our players (Bangladesh)."
The ICC match referee was said to have seen what happened in the final minutes and would make an official verdict on the matter very soon.