ICC asked Bangladesh not to add red colour to their WC jersey

The Bangladesh cricket team found itself in an unwanted controversy over the selection of its kit for the upcoming cricket World Cup starting 30th of this month. The kit which was unveiled earlier this week had a stark resemblance with that of Pakistan’s all-green jersey and it led to a huge outrage from the country’s fans and media.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had to retreat in the face of the anger and soon after, they opted for a kit with a combination of green and red, signifying the two colours present on the country’s national flag. While green denotes the country’s fertile soil, the red is the symbol of the sun rising over the nation.

The strong reaction against the all-green kit rose as it was said that it resembled Pakistan, the country of which Bangladesh was a part till 1971. That year, Bangladesh, formerly called East Pakistan, became independent following a bloodied struggle. Bangladesh has been sporting a jersey marked by green and red in the limited overs for many years now. BCB president Nazmul Hassan said in reaction to the protest that there was a time that the Bangladeshi jersey did not have the tinge of red.

Bangladesh did not always have red in jersey

“We have usually had red and green in our jerseys over the years but there were times when we didn’t have the red. I remember it was yellow and green during the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 Asia Cup,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.

The red tinge, however, became an integral part of the Bangladeshi kit over the last many years and overlooking it this time made the fans irate.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the BCB had approached the ICC before making any changes in their national team’s jersey and the latter had reportedly told them not to add the red colour saying it could make it difficult in reading their names and their numbers.

“Initially, it was the ICC who told us to not have the red in our jersey. We have a separate jersey, completely red [with white lettering], for some of the other games.”

“After the jersey unveiling yesterday, I sat with the board directors to look at the jersey again. Someone spotted the lack of red in the jersey. We have now decided to add the red to our jersey,” Hassan said, adding that the international governing body agreed to allow Bangladesh to add the red colour after they were told about the problem.

The new jersey features a red patch in the middle of the green jersey with the team’s name written on it in bold.

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