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‘We don’t stand for what Shakib did’: ‘Shocked’ Bangladesh coach slams captain | Cricket
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The 2023 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ended up going into the history books for a rather incredible reason. Veteran Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews became the first player in the history of international cricket to be out ‘timed-out’ after Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed against him for taking too long to get ready to face his first ball.
The incident occurred in the 25th over of the Sri Lankan innings. Shakib had sent back Sadeera Samarawickrama with the latter having scored 41 in 42 balls. Mathews hence walked in at No.6 but he took some time doing so. Once he was at the crease, he seemed ready to take guard when he seemed to realise that the chin strap on his helmet was broken.
Mathews then signalled to the Sri Lankan dressing room for a new helmet. Shakib could then be seen talking to the umpire Marais Erasmus with a smile on his face and as the latter walked off to confer with his colleague, the Bangladesh captain raised his hands and could be seen quietly asking, “How was that? Officially I am asking”. The umpires then ended up holding up the appeal and this led to a long-drawn discussion between Mathews and the umpires and the Bangladesh players. Eventually, a visibly befuddled Mathews dragged himself off the field.
Bangladesh bowling coach and South Africa bowling great Allan Donald was among those looking on from the sidelines. He later admitted that he was “shocked” by Shakib’s decision. “I think it [the timed out dismissal] really overshadowed a clinical performance by Bangladesh. I’m sort of a bit still shocked about it to be honest. It’s just my values that I have as a person and as a cricketer,” Donald told CricBlog.Net.
‘Wanted to run to the field and say enough is enough’: Donald on Mathews timed out
The incident set up quite a feisty encounter with Sri Lanka being combative throughout Bangladesh’s chase. Bangladesh went on to win the match and Sri Lanka refused to shake hands, which Donald said did not surprise him. “We didn’t shake hands [with Sri Lanka], and you walk on the field, and I knew what was going to come after Sri Lanka had fielded… it was just going to be a very, very blank reception and that it certainly was,” he said.
Donald said that his immediate reaction to what happened was to run onto the field and stop the incident from taking place at all. “I almost actually thought of going on that field and saying ‘enough is enough, we don’t stand for this. We are not that kind of team who stand for this.’ That was my immediate thought. Things happen so quickly, but you’re talking about authority and I’m not the head coach, I’m not in charge,” he said.
Donald admitted that the dismissal was disappointing to see. “I can understand Shakib taking his chance. His words were ‘I was doing everything to win’. You can sense in my voice that I don’t like it… I don’t like that sort of thing. It was really difficult to watch that unfold… one of Sri Lanka’s all-time greats walking off the field without a ball bowled to him been given out for time,” he said.
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