Recently, the match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh turned out to be furious as Angelo Mathews, a Sri Lankan player lashed out at the Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan and his team for accusing him of the ‘time-out’ drama and not facing the ball even after 2 minutes of the last wicket is down.
Angelo Mathews didn’t tolerate the disgraceful actions of the players of Bangladesh and backlashed at them at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. He said, “I haven’t done anything wrong and not facing the ball within 2 minutes was not done intentionally but because of an equipment malfunction”. It was really disheartening to see Shakib Al Hasan and the players of Bangladesh to behave aggressively.
Angelo further said, “If the players of Bangladesh continue to play this way and come down to this level then it must be immediately stopped. If I get late, lose my 2 minutes and the rule says to be ready anyhow within 2 minutes, I still have 5 more seconds to go”.
This time-out dismissal happened in the 25th over of the Lankan innings when the 36-year-old Angelo Mathews headed towards the field to bat after the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama but found that his helmet was broken and immediately signalled for replacement instead of facing the bowler Shakib Al Hassan.
This delay prompted the Bangladesh players to appeal for a “time-out” for Angelo Mathews. After that, it can be seen Mathews in a serious discussion with umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth, explaining to them that he had some issue with the helmet strap and asked for change. He also tried to communicate with Shakib but he refused to withdraw his appeal and Mathews was forced to leave the field.
A furious Mathews headed back to the pavilion smashing his helmet outside the boundary rope in utter anger and disgust. This dismissal of him added another chapter of the clash between the two teams and he became the first international cricketer to be dismissed after the “time-out” drama.
After the end of the game it can be seen that Sri Lankan players refused to shake hands with the players of Bangladesh and Mathews said, “If they respect us, we will respect them”. He further added, “This tournament is a beautiful game, and if they don’t have the basic common sense then what more we can ask for? Moreover, I have video evidence that I reached the field within 2 minutes and it was just my helmet issue that I had to face such negative behaviour from Bangladesh”.
“In my 15 years of cricket career, I haven’t seen such lack of commonsense in a player who failed to recognize the malfunction of the helmet and immediately appealed for a “time-out” dismissal”, Mathews said. When Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hassan was asked whether he had any regrets about his decision for the appeal he said, “No, not at all, As one of the fielders came to me and said that if we go by the law, he is already out because he is not facing the ball within the given time. So, I appealed to the umpire. Because for me rule comes first then any other personal relation”.
