ICC president Kamal rules out resignation: Report

ICC president Mustafa Kamal has ruled out resigning from his post in protest against what he had called "poor umpiring" in his country's defeat to India in the cricket World Cup, terming reports of his possible quiting as "rumour".

"Anything regarding resignation is completely rumour. All of it is the creation by media. I had no such talk with media," Kamal told a local TV channel, according to Dhaka Tribune.

After India thrashed Bangladesh by 109 runs in the quarter-final match at the MCG on March 19, reports quoted Kamal having said that he might resign from the post of ICC President if needed in protest against "poor umpiring" in that game.

"From what I have seen, the umpiring was very poor. There was no quality in the umpiring. It seemed as if they had gone into the match with something in mind. I am speaking as a fan, not as the ICC president," Kamal, a former president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, had said.

The bone of contention was a close no-ball reprieve that centurion Rohit Sharma got during the game.

The ICC, however, had rejected Kamal's outburst against the match officials was "unfortunate" and "baseless".

"The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal's comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity. As an ICC President, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned," ICC CEO Dave Richardson said in a statement.

Image: Mustafa Kamal

Photograph: Jack Dabaghian/Getty Images for ICC