DHAKA: A teenage cricketer in Bangladesh was allegedly killed by a stump-wielding batsman after he taunted the umpire over a no-ball delivery, police said Thursday.

Sixteen-year-old Babul Shikdar was wicketkeeping during a neighbourhood match with friends in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday when the batsman was given out, local police chief Bhuiyan Mahboob Hasan said.

Shikdar suggested that the umpire might again favour the batsman, by declaring the bowler's delivery a no-ball, allowing him to remain at the crease, after the umpire made the same ruling off the previous ball.

"It enraged the batsman who picked up a stump and hit Shikdar on the back of his head. He collapsed on the field and died on the way to a clinic," Hasan told AFP.

Police were now searching for the batsman who fled the scene, he said.

Cricket is the most popular sport in the South Asian nation with millions of people playing the game at every level.

Opinion

A state of chaos

A state of chaos

The establishment’s increasingly intrusive role has further diminished the credibility of the political dispensation.

Editorial

Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...
Iranian tragedy
Updated 21 May, 2024

Iranian tragedy

Due to Iran’s regional and geopolitical influence, the world will be watching the power transition carefully.
Circular debt woes
21 May, 2024

Circular debt woes

THE alleged corruption and ineptitude of the country’s power bureaucracy is proving very costly. New official data...
Reproductive health
21 May, 2024

Reproductive health

IT is naïve to imagine that reproductive healthcare counts in Pakistan, where women from low-income groups and ...