CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh: Andrew Strauss and Shakib Al Hasan's men were stranded for four hours at the stadium after Bangladesh's stunning World Cup win over England sparked wild celebrations in the streets of Chittagong which prevented the players from returning back to their hotel. The moment tail-ender Mahmudullah drove Tim Bresnan through covers to seal the match, thousands of fans poured on to the streets of Bangladesh Friday in a spontaneous display of joy. Around 10,000 of them turned up for an impromptu midnight carnival in front of the teams' hotel in Chittagong, and the beating drums and the chants of “Tiger, Tiger, Shakibs are Tigers,” could probably be heard hundreds of miles away in the the capital city. The festivities, however, blocked all traffic movement in the roads leading up to the hotel, which meant the players had to stay put until the early hours of Saturday morning at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. “Yes, the teams were delayed from departing the stadium because of the celebrations,” Rabeed Imam, media manager in Chittagong for International Cricket Council, said. Following last week's stone-throwing incident at the West Indies team bus police had planned to ban crowds from entering the roads through which the teams would travel. However, police opted not to implement the plan since no one was causing any trouble, said a police officer. There were reports of similar scenes throughout the country. “The teams returned in their respective buses to the hotel around 2.30 A.M. (2030 GMT),” a senior manager of the official team hotel said. Alam blasts Umar ‘fake' injury claims Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam denied Saturday that Umar Akmal had faked a finger injury in a desperate bid to save his blundering brother Kamran's place in the team. Umar, who has been tipped to take the wicket-keeping gloves from his elder brother for Monday's World Cup match against Zimbabwe, hurt his index finger on his right hand in practice two days ago. But some sections of the Pakistani media have accused him of feigning injury to save Kamran. Team management accused Umar of feigning injury after the infamous Sydney Test against Australia in January 2010, a Test in which Kamran missed three catches off century maker Michael Hussey and a run out of Shane Watson. Then, Umar reportedly refused to play if his brother was dropped. Abdul Raqeeb, who was team manager on that disastrous tour, mentioned the incident in his report which eventually led to fines for both Kamran and Umar. But Alam insisted there is nothing sinister in 20-year-old Umar's World Cup injury. “There is no such thing and we will wait and see how the injury heals,” said Alam. “Umar has pain when he bends the finger and there was slight swelling but since scans revealed no fracture we will wait until the morning of the match against Zimbabwe,” said Alam. Umar missed training for the second day in a row, raising doubts over his availability for the match. Swann fined for offensive language Spinner Graeme Swann has been fined 10 percent match fee for using offensive language during England's two-wicket defeat by Bangladesh in Chittagong, ICC said Saturday. The off-spinner subsequently apologized to the on-field umpires and pleaded guilty to the Level 1 offense under the ICC code of conduct, the governing body said. Umpires Rod Tucker and Darryl Harper and third umpire Aleem Dar brought the charge against Swann for “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match” during Friday's encounter.
