DHAKA, JUNE 2: Bangladeshi establishment has taken on the cricket reporter of Dainik Bartaman, a Calcutta, daily for writing that India-Bangladesh Asia Cup match was fixed.The reporter, Ratul Ghosh, has been condemned by one and all and the Sports Minister, Obaidul Quader, asked him to either substantiate what he wrote, or publish an apology in his paper. "Failing so, the Bangladesh government will initiate legal action against him and his paper," the minister said.Ghosh wrote in his paper that "India allowed Bangladesh to make a huge score so that it would facilitate their entry into the Test league". Bangladesh's case for becoming the 10th Test playing nation is to be decided at the ICC meeting in June. Most of the full ICC members are favourably inclined towards the entry of Bangladesh into the Test fold.Ratul Ghosh said: "I was threatened and abused at the BCB office where I was called to give an explanation for what I had written." One of the BCB officials who was present when this incident took place denied having threatened the reporter, though he did admit that the reporter was "given a piece of their mind".This is obviously a touchy affair for the Bangladeshis, for whom getting Test status is going to be a very proud moment in their sporting history. Anyone who alleges "foul-play" evokes a very strong reaction from the authorities. They feel very angry and even hurt whenever anyone says that the 1999 World Cup match in which they beat Pakistan was `fixed'. "The victory in the World Cup is our greatest sporting moment, but whenever someone says it was achieved through unfair means, it hurts," is the common refrain of the people here.
