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Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews on Monday called Bangladesh’s decision to dismiss him via ‘time out’ as “disgraceful” and said it had left him in “complete shock”. Mathews became the first batter to be timed out in international cricket as Bangladesh officially knocked Sri Lanka out of the World Cup with a three-wicket win in a dramatic match which was held amid severe air pollution here on Monday.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. I had two minutes to get ready which I did but there was an equipment malfunction and I don’t know where commonsense (had) gone. It was disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh,” Mathews said during the post-match press conference.
“If they want to play cricket like that, stoop to that level, it is something wrong drastically. If I got late, past my two minutes and the law says I have to get ready in two minutes, I still had five more seconds to go.
“It was just pure commonsense, I am not saying (doing) ‘Mankading’ or obstructing the field here, It is absolutely disgraceful.” Mathews’ dismissal added another chapter to the bitter rivalry between the two teams when he was timed out, the first instance in international cricket across formats.
Mathews had walked in after Sadeera Samarawickrama holed out on the second ball of the 25th over off Shakib’s bowling but he failed to get ready to face the ball within two minutes after realising that the strap of his helmet was broken.
The delay prompted Bangladesh to appeal and the umpires upheld it despite Mathews’ repeated pleas.
The two teams didn’t shake hands after the match.
“You want to respect people who respect us. We are all ambassadors of this beautiful game. If you don’t respect and use your commonsense then what more you can ask for,” he said on why Sri Lankan players did not shake hands with their opponents after the match.
“Until today I had utmost respect for him (Shakib) and Bangladesh team, obviously we all play to win and if it is within rules it is fine. But within two minutes I was there…we have video evidence. We will bring out a statement later. I am talking with proof from the time the catch was taken and then I got to the crease,” Mathews said.
“We talk about player safety. So, should I have played without my helmet on? So the umpires had a bigger job, they could have checked upstairs. Even wicketkeepers don’t open their helmet. It is commonsense. It was complete equipment malfunction.
“In my 15 years, I have never seen a team going down to this level. Obviously umpires could have checked upstairs (with the TV umpire). I’m not saying that if I would have been there I would have won the match.
“We need to have commonsense, it was clearly a malfunction. I didn’t pull it (strap) and break it. I was in complete shock. Unfortunately, it happens with Bangladesh. I don’t think any other team would do that.
“Shakib had the option, they knew it was not time wasting. He had the choice (to not approach the umpires) but he decided to go the other way.”
When Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan was asked if he had any regrets about his decision to appeal, he said, “No, not at all. I mean, one of our fielders came to me and said if you go by the law, he’s out because he had not taken guard within the time-frame.
“So then I appealed to the umpire. We played Under-19 World Cup together, so I know Angelo for a long time since 2006. Yeah, I’m better within the rules.” Asked if it was against the spirit of cricket, Shakib retorted back, “Well, then ICC should change the rules.” Asked what Mathews told him when the incident happened, Shakib said, “He came and asked me whether I will withdraw my appeal or not. I said, ‘you know, I understand your situation’. It was unfortunate, but I don’t want to.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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