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Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that he felt he “was at war” when asked about Angelo Mathews’ controversial dismissal in the World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Delhi. Mathews became the first international cricketer to be given timed out in international cricket after a helmet malfunction.
Shakib elaborated on the incident and said one of the Bangladesh fielders informed him about Mathews taking time to face his first ball and that they could appeal it to the umpire.
“One of our fielders came to me and said, ‘If you appeal now, he will be out, if you are serious’. Then I appealed and the umpire asked me whether I was serious and whether I was going to take it back or not. I said no if it is in the rule if it’s out, I [won’t] take it back,” Shakib said at the post-match presentation after Bangladesh won the contest by four wickets.
“It is in the laws. I don’t know if it is right or wrong. But I felt like I was at war. I had to take decision to make sure my team wins and whatever I had to do, I had to do. Right or wrong – there will be debates. But if it’s in the rules, I don’t mind taking those chances,” said Shakib.
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis, however, said that the umpires should have used more common sense in the situation. “It is very disappointing that when Angelo came into the crease, there were couple of seconds left, for like five seconds left for him to be ready. He found out that his strap of the helmet has come out. It is an equipment failure. So I’m disappointed that the umpires couldn’t react on that and add common sense there,” Mendis said after the match.
“It is unfortunate that it happened during a crucial time that after the fall of a wicket. Angelo, we expected him to score some runs for us, and it’s disappointing that the umpires couldn’t step in and make good decisions at that time.”
Shakib however was fired up by the incident that took place in the first innings. Chasing Sri Lanka’s 279, the allrounder made 82 off 65 balls and eventually got out to Mathews who gave him a send-off.
“I thought that [incident] helped [to keep me motivated]. We talk about the fight. I am 36, that fight doesn’t come all the time. But today that helped in a way, I won’t deny that,” Shakib said.
