Bangladesh skipper Akbar Ali battled pain of sister's death on way to U-19 World Cup triumph
Dhaka, Feb 10: Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali battled the pain of losing his elder sister while steering his team to the U-19 World Cup triumph, the tragedy far outweighing the challenges thrown at him by his adversaries on the ground.
Sunday's title triumph in Potchefstroom, South Africa was Bangladesh's first in an ICC tournament.
At the forefront of the country's win in the title clash against favourites and defending champions India was its 18-year-old skipper Akbar, whose elder sister Khadija Khatun died while giving birth to twins on January 22, according to a report in leading Bangladesh daily 'Prothom Alo'.
Akbar was not informed about the tragedy back home but he found out through one of his brothers.
"Akbar was closest to his sister. She loved Akbar a lot," Akbar's father was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"We did not want to inform him at first. He then called after the Pakistan match and questioned his brother why he was not kept in the loop. I did not have the courage to talk to him. I don't know what to say," his father added.
In a low-scoring final, Bangladesh first bowled out India for 177 in 47.2 overs and then did well enough to chase down a revised target of 170 in 42.1 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method. They had three wickets in hand when the winning runs were scored.
Having witnessed Bangladesh's victory against Zimbabwe in a Group C game on January 18, Khadija could not see her brother lead the country to its biggest cricketing triumph with a gritty, unbeaten 43.
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Followed poll processes transparently, will review all legitimate concerns: EC to Cong
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all poll procedures it followed in Maharashtra were transparent and assured that it would review all legitimate concerns flagged by the Congress, which alleged serious inconsistencies.
In its interim response to the party, the poll authority invited a Congress delegation on December 3 to discuss concerns expressed by it.
The Congress on Friday raised with the Election Commission "serious and grave inconsistencies" which it said were being revealed in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently-concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls and sought an in-person hearing to present relevant evidence.
In the response, the EC reiterated that the process was transparent with the involvement of candidates or their agents at every stage.
The commission also assured of a review of the Congress' legitimate concerns and a written response after hearing the party's delegation in person.
It asserted that a transparent electoral roll updation process was undertaken with the involvement of all political parties.
Responding to the issue regarding the voter turnout data, the EC asserted that there was no discrepancy in it and the data was available with all candidates polling station-wise and is verifiable.
The gap in the 5 pm polling data and the final voter turnout was due to procedural priorities, as presiding officers perform multiple statutory duties near the close of polling before updating the voter turnout data.
As an additional disclosure measure, an EC press note at around 11:45 pm was introduced during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and followed subsequently during all assembly polls thereafter, the poll body told the Congress.
