Kolkata, June 18: A controversy surfaced at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka Hotel o Wednesday over the inauguration of the trophy for the three-match one-day international series between India and Bangladesh a day before the first ball was bowled. A report in Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika said.

India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived for the trophy inauguration at the hotel at 7 pm local time but his Bangladeshi counterpart Mashrafe Mortaza turned up 10 minutes late.

According to the report, the Indian team management had almost decided to leave with Dhoni when Mortaza arrived. It was also thinking about seeking an explanation from the Bangladesh board. But the matter didn't get worse since the Bangladeshi captain arrived almost when the drama was set to turn for the worse.

Indian team's administrative manager Bishwaroop De later said that they did not want to take it forward after the Bangladeshi board informed them that Mortaza got late because he had to go for his prayers, the report said. The Bangladeshi team management, however, claimed that Dhoni had knowledge about Mortaza's delay which the Indian side rubbished.

The first match of the series has become a special encounter for it is the first meeting between the two teams since that controversial World Cup quarter-final at Melbourne earlier this year. Bangladesh was left livid after a few umpiring decisions had gone against them in that match.

The impact was so serious that even the president of the International Cricket Council, Mustafa Kamal, quit his post after the World Cup over ego clashes with ICC Chairman N Srinivasan. He had even accused the ICC of unjustly favouring India since it is a powerhouse in world cricket.

Bangladesh lost their first-ever World Cup quarterfinal by 109 runs.

The Bangladesh cricket authorities tried their best to ensure that the ill-feelings did not become prominent during the series. They had banned objectionable festoons, placards and slogan during the drawn one-off Test between the two sides held at Fatullah recently.

Making the counterpart wait is, however, not new in the sub-continent. During the 2001 series between India and Australia, home team captain Sourav Ganguly was accused of making his Australian counterpart Steve Waugh wait during the toss.

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