<p class="title">Bangladesh has altered its World Cup cricket strip to add a touch of red following uproar over the initial design, which some had likened to rival Pakistan's kit, the cricket board said Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The national flag of Bangladesh is red and green, but the Tigers' jersey unveiled Monday for the tournament starting later this month in England and Wales was green and white.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman Jalal Yunus said cricket's world governing body had originally asked it to drop the red colour due to "commercial complications", but relented following a subsequent request from the BCB.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It made the jersey green and white. But people wanted a touch of red in the jersey. So we requested the ICC (International Cricket Council) again and they accepted our request," he told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The original design had featured the names of players and the word Bangladesh in red, Yunus noted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Social media was awash with complaints after the strip was unveiled, with former BCB president Saber Hossain Chowdhury among those to criticise the original design.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Red and green, our national flag colours, have always been reflected in jerseys of @BCBtigers over the years. So very sad this is no longer so," Chowdhury tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many cricket fans saw a similarity with the jersey of Pakistan, from which Bangladesh became independent after a bloody war in 1971.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But BCB president Nazmul Hassan, also known as Papon, blasted the suggestion that the resemblance of Pakistan jersey prompted the swift change in design.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Bangladesh is written on the jersey, how can you confuse it with Pakistan?" Nazmul asked reporters in a press conference on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"After seeing the Tigers' picture and BCB logo if someone thinks that it's not Bangladesh's jersey but Pakistan's then I think that person should stay in Pakistan," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bangladesh cricket team left home on Wednesday and will open their World Cup campaign against South Africa at the Oval on June 2.</p>.<p class="bodytext">First they will play a tri-national tournament in Ireland from May 5-17 along with fellow World Cup participants Ireland and the West Indies. The World Cup begins on May 30.</p>
<p class="title">Bangladesh has altered its World Cup cricket strip to add a touch of red following uproar over the initial design, which some had likened to rival Pakistan's kit, the cricket board said Wednesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The national flag of Bangladesh is red and green, but the Tigers' jersey unveiled Monday for the tournament starting later this month in England and Wales was green and white.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman Jalal Yunus said cricket's world governing body had originally asked it to drop the red colour due to "commercial complications", but relented following a subsequent request from the BCB.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It made the jersey green and white. But people wanted a touch of red in the jersey. So we requested the ICC (International Cricket Council) again and they accepted our request," he told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The original design had featured the names of players and the word Bangladesh in red, Yunus noted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Social media was awash with complaints after the strip was unveiled, with former BCB president Saber Hossain Chowdhury among those to criticise the original design.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Red and green, our national flag colours, have always been reflected in jerseys of @BCBtigers over the years. So very sad this is no longer so," Chowdhury tweeted.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many cricket fans saw a similarity with the jersey of Pakistan, from which Bangladesh became independent after a bloody war in 1971.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But BCB president Nazmul Hassan, also known as Papon, blasted the suggestion that the resemblance of Pakistan jersey prompted the swift change in design.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Bangladesh is written on the jersey, how can you confuse it with Pakistan?" Nazmul asked reporters in a press conference on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"After seeing the Tigers' picture and BCB logo if someone thinks that it's not Bangladesh's jersey but Pakistan's then I think that person should stay in Pakistan," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bangladesh cricket team left home on Wednesday and will open their World Cup campaign against South Africa at the Oval on June 2.</p>.<p class="bodytext">First they will play a tri-national tournament in Ireland from May 5-17 along with fellow World Cup participants Ireland and the West Indies. The World Cup begins on May 30.</p>