Disgraceful, says Sri Lanka's Mathews on his ‘timed out’ dismissal; Bangladesh skipper hits back

A war of words has erupted between Sri Lanka's all-rounder Angelo Mathews and Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan over the former's ‘timed out’ dismissal during the World Cup face-off in Delhi on Monday (November 6).

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 batsman to be timed out in international cricket as Bangladesh officially knocked Sri Lanka out of the World Cup tournament with a three-wicket win in a dramatic match held amid severe air pollution in Delhi.

“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,” the Sri Lanka all-rounder said.

‘It is absolutely disgraceful’

“It was just pure commonsense, I am not saying (doing) ‘Mankading’ or obstructing the field here. It is absolutely disgraceful,” he added without mincing words.

Mathews' dismissal added another chapter to the bitter rivalry between the two teams when he was timed out, the first instance of this kind in international cricket across formats.

Mathews had walked in after Sadeera Samarawickrama was bowled 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 his helmet strap was broken. The delay prompted Bangladesh to appeal and the umpires upheld it despite Mathews' repeated pleas.

No handshake after the face-off

In another unprecedented development, 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,” Mathews said when asked 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 added.

Helmet malfunction was the devil

The delay was because of a helmet malfunction. “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 common sense. It was a complete equipment malfunction,” Mathews said.

Lamenting, he added, “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 common sense, 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 (not to approach the umpires), but he decided to go the other way,” Mathews further said.

Any regrets? ‘No, not at all’

However, 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 the Under-19 World Cup together, so I know Angelo for a long time since 2006. Yeah, I'm better within the rules,” Shakib said. Asked if it was against the spirit of cricket, Shakib retorted, “Well, then ICC should change the rules.”

When he was 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."

‘I felt like I was at war’

The Bangladesh skipper said he felt like he “was at war” when he decided to approach the umpire demanding Mathews be 'timed out' for not being ready to face the ball within two minutes of the fall of a wicket in the World Cup match.

“I felt like I was at war. Whatever I had to do, I did it. There will be debates. Today that (the time out) helped, I won't deny that!” said Shakib after the match.

Umpires should have made a ‘good decision’

Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis said the umpires should have taken a "good decision" on the issue. “When Mathews came to the crease, there were five seconds left. When he came out, he found out about the strap of the helmet. It was disappointing. We expected him to score runs for us; it's disappointing that the umpires couldn't step in and make good decisions,” said the Sri Lankan skipper.

Charith Asalanka smashed a 105-ball 108 but it was not enough as his brilliance was overshadowed by the 169-run partnership between Shakib and Najmul Hossain Shanto, which helped Bangladesh chase down the 280-run target for the loss of seven wickets in 41.1 overs.

(With agency inputs)