Recent outbursts against umpiring decisions by Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah have made a Bangladeshi umpire Moniruzzaman give up his promising career. The umpire, who was part of the ICC Emerging Panel, said that “enough is enough.”
Mahmudullah had laid down on an adjacent pitch in protest and refused to carry on with play after his team’s appeal was turned down in a Dhaka Premier Division T20 League match.
In an earlier match, Shakib had kicked and uprooted the stumps and angrily argued with the umpires after his appeal for leg-before against Mushfiqur Rahim was denied and later when play was stopped due to rain.
While Moniruzzaman was not involved in the Shakib match, he was third umpire for the Mahmudullah game.
"Enough is enough for me and I don't want to do umpiring anymore," Moniruzzaman told Cricbuzz. "I have some self-respect and want to live with it.
"Umpires can make mistakes but if we are treated in this manner, there is no point in doing it anymore because I am not in it just for the money.
"I was not involved in Shakib's game. The way he behaved was something very hard for me to digest.
“In the Mahmudullah match, I was the TV umpire and watching the episode closely. It left me numb and at that point, I decided not to carry on with umpiring.”
Moniruzzaman added that while he had not directly been the target of poor player behaviour yet, he did not want to spend his time worrying about what could happen.
"I am fortunate nothing untoward happened with me so far but who knows I might be a subject of humiliation in the next game and I don't want to lose my sleep thinking what will happen tomorrow in the match."
A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said that the board had got in touch with Moniruzzaman. "We have spoken with Moniruzzaman and he said that he is not interested in carrying on with umpiring. He is not our employee so we cannot ask for any official explanation but I can say only one thing that he had a very promising career as an umpire.”
Featured photo: AFP / MUNIR UZ ZAMAN
