Ravi Bishnoi finished as the leading wicket-taker in the U19 World Cup with 17 wickets. (Source: BCCI)

Although Ravi Bishnoi spun a web in the recently concluded ICC U19 World Cup, and finished as the leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps, he found himself in the midst of a controversy after the final. His father, Mangilal Bishnoi was left surprised as his son was charged for unruly behaviour against Bangladesh players after the match.

Trying to hand India their fifth U19 World Cup trophy, Ravi came up with a 4/30 in the final, but it went in vain as Bangladesh lifted their first-ever major ICC trophy on Sunday in a rain-hit encounter by beating the Men in Blue by three wickets in Potchefstroom.

After the conclusion of the match, the 19-year-old spinner got involved in a clash between Indian and Bangladeshi players. Along with Akash Singh, he was the only other Indian player to be charged by the cricketing body for unruly behaviour.

“I wonder what happened to my son, because he is one of my calmest children [Ravi has two elder sisters and one brother]. He explained the sequence of events and the circumstances when he lost his cool while trying to save his teammate, who was being attacked by the Bangladeshi players,” Mangilal was quoted as saying in Mid-Day.

The incident has left the Bishnoi family quite affected, as Ravi’s father added, “My wife has not eaten anything since yesterday.”

After the aggressive exchanges between the finalists which also damaged a Bangladeshi flag, Priyam Garg, the Indian skipper had his say. “Their reaction was dirty. I think it shouldn’t have happened. But it’s okay,” Garg said.

Even Akbar Ali, the Bangladesh captain who scored a gritty 43 in the final, expressed his regret over the post-match incident at the press conference, “We have to show respect to the opponent. What happened, it should not [have] happened.”

“I don’t know what exactly happened. I didn’t ask what was going on. But, you know, in the final, emotion can come out, and sometimes the boys were getting pumped, and emotions were coming through. I’ll say the India-Bangladesh rivalry plays a part, and before the World Cup final, we lost the Asia Cup final to them a couple of months ago,” Akbar said.

From Bangladesh, Rakibul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, and Towhid Hridoy were slapped with suspension points for their atrocious behaviour on the pitch.