Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in Match 38 of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Monday and while it may have been Shakib al Hasan's side's best performance in the tournament, it was marred by an on-field incident following a decision taken by the skipper.
Angelo Mathews' 'timed out' dismissal has raised many questions about the spirit of cricket but Shakib Al Hasan remained confident of the decision he made, saying he had 'no regrets'.
'Any regrets?' he was asked in the first question during the post-match press conference. 'Not at all,' said the Bangladesh skipper.
Shakib elaborated on the incident by saying that one of the Bangladeshi 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, the law says he will be out because he hasn’t taken his guard within the time frame’. Then I appealed and the umpire asked me if I was going to call him back if he gave him out, because he said it doesn’t look nice - I said I won’t call him back.’ Shakib said at the post-match press conference.
‘In terms of the spirit of cricket, did you think of calling him back to the crease,’ was the follow up question. To which Shakib said, ‘well then ICC should look into it and change the rules.’
‘He came and asked me if I wanted to withdraw my appeal. I told him I understood his situation, it was unfortunate, but I didn't want to'.
"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 make 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," he added.
The incident occurred when Mathews came out to bat after the dismissal of Sadeera Sawarawickrama and was given out by the umpire citing ‘timed out’ after Shakib appealed.
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.
New Delhi: Sri Lankan batter Angelo Mathews speaks to the umpires after being given 'timed out' during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023.
(Photo: PTI)
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis seemed frustrated with the umpiring decisions and 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 a couple of seconds left, for like five seconds left for him to be ready. He found out that the 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."
(With inputs from IANS)
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