Veteran Sri Lanka cricketer Angelo Mathews and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan have engaged themselves in a war of words over the controversial timed-out dismissal during the ODI World Cup 2023 match between the two sides at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
In a bizarre and rare incident, Mathews on Monday became the first player to be timed out in international cricket. The incident occurred in the 25th over of the innings when the 35-year-old all-rounder walked in to bat after Shakib dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made a 42-ball 41.
According to the timed-out rule, the batter has to make the pitch within 3 minutes (2 minutes in World Cups) of the dismissal of the previous player and be ready to face the next delivery and Mathews didn’t follow that.
The 35-year-old Mathews, who leisurely walked out to the middle, appeared to have some issue (strap was broken) with the helmet. He didn’t consult the umpire and called for a different helmet.
Meanwhile, Shakib and Bangladesh appealed for a time-out and the umpires gave Mathews out as they had to go by the rules. The veteran Sri Lanka captain tried to plead his case to the umpires and Shakib, but the former followed the rules and the latter did not want to withdraw their appeal.
Mathews, who had to depart without facing a single delivery, was fuming at the decision and threw his helmet in anger at the boundary line.
After Bangladesh won the game by three wickets, Shakib was asked about the timed-out dismissal and the skipper said that he was at war and he had to take a decision to make sure his team wins.
“One of our fielders came to me and said if you appeal now he’ll be out. Then I appealed and the umpires asked me if I’m serious or whether I am going to take it back. It’s in the laws. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong. I was at war and I had to make a decision to make sure my team wins. Right or wrong, there will be debates but if it is in the rules I don’t mind taking those chances,” Shakib later told Star Sports during the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Mathews during an explosive press conference called the actions of opposition captain Shakib and the Bangladesh team “disgraceful”.
“I have two minutes to get to the crease and get myself ready, which I did. And then it was an equipment malfunction. And I don’t know where the common sense went, because it’s obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh if they want to play cricket like that. Obviously (they) stooped down to that level, I think there’s something wrong, drastically. After my helmet broke off, I still had five more seconds to go. And the umpires also have said to our coaches that they didn’t see my helmet breaking. I mean, I was just asking for my helmet,” said Mathews, who claimed there was enough proof to justify he wasn’t in the wrong.
“Up till today, I had utmost respect for him [Shakib] and the Bangladesh team. Obviously, you all play to win. And if it’s within the rules, it’s fine. But the rule clearly says, in my incident today, within two minutes I was there. We have video evidence. We will put out a statement later on. We have video evidence, footage, everything was looked at. I’m not just coming and saying things here. I’m talking with proof,” he added.
The win on Monday was the first win for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup history.
