Nidahas Trophy: Want a lesson in sportsman spirit, Bangladesh? Look no further than your own coach Courtney Walsh

The incidents during the final over of the virtual semifinal between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday night did not make a pleasant sight.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan gestured to his batsmen Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain to abandon the thrilling run chase after showing his displeasure at the umpire’s decisions not to call 'No Ball' the second time left-armer Isuru Udana sent one well above Mustafizur Rahman’s shoulder.

There were arguments galore before better sense prevailed and Mahmudullah and Hossain stayed back on the pitch and not return to the pavilion at Shakib’s insistence.

There could not have been a greater irony in the manner in which Bangladesh behaved. Their head coach, though on an interim basis, is Courtney Walsh.

Walsh, the legendary West Indies paceman, has been the epitome of the manner in which the sport has to be played. Never once was Walsh known to have lost his cool even in the most trying circumstances in his glittering career of 132 Tests between 1984 and 2001 in which he took 519 wickets.

Walsh formed a deadly combination with Curtly Ambrose around the time West Indies dominated world cricket and also tried their best during the Caribbean cricket’s years in decline.

The 55-year-old is still famous for the sportsman spirit he displayed during the 1987 Reliance World Cup when he stopped in his bowling run up in the final over and warned Pakistan No 11 Saleem Jaffer for repeatedly backing up too far.

The scene at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was as electrifying as the one at Premadasa on Friday night. West Indies needed to win to enter the semifinal and Walsh was within his right to Mankad out Jaffer and guide his team to the last four. But, he did not.

The thorough gentleman that Walsh is let the sportsman spirit get the better of him. His act may have cost West Indies a semifinal spot as Pakistan clinched the thriller by one wicket, but the Jamaican won the hearts of not just the Pakistanis but all the fans the world over.

Walsh even got the Sportsman Spirit award for his gentlemanly gesture.

Bangladesh, on Friday, may well have taken a leaf out of Walsh, who came out on the ground to appeal to his players to stay calm after the thrilling win even as the two teams were in arguments and Tamim Iqbal had to restrain Lanka’s Kusal Mendis from getting into physical altercation.

With Shakib calling his players off the field, there was another such incident involved with another legend, who was at the Stadium, though not with the teams.

Legendary India opener and captain Sunil Gavaskar was at the Premadasa Stadium as a television commentator.

It was the same Gavaskar who called his opening partner off the field Chetan Chauhan during a Test in Melbourne in 1980-81 after he was given leg before wicket against pacer Dennis Lillee.

Gavaskar thought he had nicked the ball on to the pad and was involved in an argument with the Australian players before, in a swift action, he summoned Chauhan, even pushing him, to walk back to the pavilion with him.

However, better sense prevailed and the Indian team manager Wing Commander Shahid Durrani stopped Chauhan at the boundary line and asked him to return to the crease with the next batsman Dilip Vengsarkar.

Looking back at that incident, Gavaskar has said numerous times that he regretted the incident but said that he was not disappointed at the decision as much as to something personal that the Australians remarked at him that prompted him to walk away with Chauhan.

So, Shakib asking his players to abandon the match was not a first in international cricket.

And, Bangladesh will do well to take a leaf out of their own inspirational Courtney Walsh for behaviour on and off the field.