The World Cup match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka produced one of the most controversial events of the campaign after Angelo Mathews was called a time-out. It was Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan who appealed after the Sri Lanka all-rounder missed the 2-minute timeline to be ready for the next delivery of the over. Mathews even asked Shakib if he would consider withdrawing the appeal since the delay was due to a helmet issue. The Bangladesh captain flatly refused and said he didn’t want to.
When Shakib reached the post-match press conference, most of the questions he faced were related to the Mathews incident. Digging into the details, Shakib revealed that it was one of his teammates who came up with the idea of calling for a ‘timeout’.
Even as discussions took place with the referee and Mathews about recalling the Sri Lanka star by withdrawing the appeal, Shakib said he wanted to abide by the rules.
“One of our field players came to me and said, if you appeal, the law says he is out because he doesn’t catch his guard within the time frame. So then I appealed to the umpires, the umpire told me or you go Whether you call him back or not, if I say he’s gone, you call him back, that doesn’t look good I said I’m not calling him back.
“We have been playing against each other since 2006. We have played many matches against Sri Lanka. I know him very well; he knows me very well. So he came and asked me if I would withdraw my contract. Appeal or not. If I want that, I said: you know, I understand your situation. It was a shame, but I don’t want it,” he revealed.
When asked if excessive fare was a reason for the incident, Shakib confirmed that it was not.
No, I thought we weren’t slow to raise rates today. But yes, it was in the rules that a batsman has to come to the crease within that certain time and he wasn’t there at that time.
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