DHAKA: Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali battled the pain of losing his elder sister while steering his team to the U- 19 World Cup triumph, the tragedy far outweighing the challenges thrown at him by his adversaries on the ground.
Sundayu2019s title triumph in Potchefstroom, South Africa was Bangladeshu2019s first in an ICC tournament.
At the forefront of the countryu2019s win in the title clash against favourites and defending champions India was its skipper Akbar, 18, whose elder sister Khadija Khatun died while giving birth to twins on January 22, according to a report in leading Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo.
Akbar was not informed about the tragedy back home but he found out through one of his brothers. u201c Akbar was closest to his sister. She loved Akbar a lot,u201d Akbaru2019s father was quoted as saying.
u201c We did not want to inform him at first. He then called after the Pakistan match and questioned his brother why he was not kept in the loop. I did not have the courage to talk to him. I donu2019t know what to say,u201d his father added.
PTI Akbar Ali battled pain of sisteru2019s death during WC Bangladesh skipper Akbar Ali addresses the media after the World Cup triumph on Sunday disgracefulu2019 Bangladesh wild a at Sunday.
