Bengal players refuse handshake after ill-tempered Ranji tie

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Dec 09 2013 | 6:37 PM IST
In one of the most ill-tempered domestic matches of recent times, Bengal and Railway players set a poor example of an on and off-field behaviour with the two umpires hardly being able to control the proceedings during the last two days of their Ranji Trophy encounter.
If tension started with Railways captain Murali Kartik 'Mankading' Bengal's Sandipan Das at the stroke of lunch on the third day, it ended on a very sour note with Bengal players refusing a customary handshake with the Railwaymen at the end of the match as the home team decided to continue playing all the mandatory overs.
This was certainly done by Railways to humiliate the Bengal team by keeping them on the field after they have conceded the first innings lead and the match was over as contest. In fact when umpires asked the two captains whether they would like to stop the contest, it was Kartik who insisted on carrying on.
In the morning, the Railwaymen indulged in some mindless sledging led by their captain Kartik. In fact, Kartik waited near the stumps when Ashoke Dinda came into bat and gave him a 'warm reception' before umpire Milind Pathak intervened.
Such was the noise made by Railways players that Laxmi Ratan Shukla even complained to the umpires, who told Kartik to control his slip cordon players.
Once Railways pacer Krishna Kant Upadhyay removed Dinda and last man Shib Shankar Paul, he made an ugly gesture of kicking the Bengal player (Paul) up his backside, which immediately attracted the umpire's attention.
When PTI asked Upadhyay about the incident, he said, "It wasn't aimed at Maco (Paul's nickname) but I couldn't control my anger as Dinda had said something really abusive. We played in IPL for same team (Pune Warriors) and suddenly he becomes abusive."
Once the proceedings were over, Bengal's stand-in captain Dinda (leading in absence of injured Laxmi Ratan Shukla) and a few others didn't even shake hands with the two not out batsmen Harshad Rawle and Nitin Bhille as the other Railway players trooped out.
Watching this, match referee B Kalyansundaram immediately had a word with coach Ashoke Malhotra but the Bengal players went to one side of the field and started their 'cooling-down' drills without even bothering.
After a few minutes, Kartik led his team and went towards the Bengal team huddle where the boys were sitting.
To everyone's horror, none of the Bengal boys wanted to shake hands with the Railways players. As Kartik walked up to each and every player, they simply told the former India left-arm spinner to leave them alone.
Kartik and his boys then went back into the dressing room.
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First Published: Dec 09 2013 | 6:37 PM IST

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