Offended by Shakib-Mahmudullah's on-field meltdown, DPL umpire decides to quit umpiring

The recently concluded Dhaka Premier League was rocked by quite a few controversies, most of them involving umpiring decisions. The way the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah behaved on the field when decisions didn't go in their favour was something we don't see often.

The umpires were shocked and very offended, so much so that one of the umpires officiating in the DPL has decided to quit umpiring. Moniruzzaman, former first-class cricketer and currently an umpire, has already made the Umpires' Committee and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) aware of his decision.

Moniruzzaman, on Tuesday, told The Business Standard (TBS), "I am retiring from umpiring to maintain my self-respect. There is little respect for the umpires in Bangladesh. We don't just officiate matches for money. We do that for passion too. But I've been hurt."

"Almost all the leading cricketers reacted to our decisions this year. They didn't respect our decisions. They could have reported but they decided to misbehave on the field," added Moniruzzaman.

A dejected Moniruzzaman further mentioned, "Shakib and Mahmudullah's reactions were ugly. Players of the Prime Bank team didn't shake hands with the umpires at the end of the last match. We too work hard. We enter the field before the players and leave after them. Even the umpires of the elite panel make mistakes. To err is human. We have to admit that."

Gazi Group captain Mahmudullah displayed dissatisfaction over the on-field umpire's decision in a match. Moniruzzaman, who was the TV umpire in that match, said, "I was the TV umpire in that match. We lodged an official complaint, writing that he breached the code of conduct."

Moniruzzaman said that the way the leading cricketers behave on the field doesn't set a good example. "They are the leading players of the country. A lot of young boys will look to follow them and make their way into top-level cricket. What examples are they setting? Even the behaviour of under-19 boys is better than them. They have so much experience under their belt. They are our assets. But they cannot teach the youngsters wrong lessons."

As a former first-class cricketer, Moniruzzaman has some advantages but he stated the non-cricketer umpires are ill-treated. But he admitted that the umpires are somewhat responsible for this situation and added that the number of honest umpires is not many.

"Shakib's incident involved (Imran Parvez) Ripon Bhai. He is also a former first-class cricketer. We played for the Rajshahi division together. The whole umpiring community was disrespected in front of everyone. It's tough to digest," said Moniruzzaman. 

Moniruzzaman reckons that the worst is yet to come and that was the reason he has decided to quit umpiring. "The coming days will be more difficult. The umpires may have to face worse situations. That's why I have decided to retire," concluded Moniruzzaman.