World Cup 2023, Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh Angelo Mathews did not have presence of mind: Dinesh Karthik offers solution to timed-out dismissal

In a first in international cricket, Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews was dismissed without facing a single ball during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh. The incident occurred on November 6, 2023, at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi.

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The dismissal was due to a ‘timed out’ rule, as per the ICC playing conditions, which stipulates that a new batter must be ready to play the next ball within two minutes of the previous batter’s dismissal. However, Mathews encountered an unexpected issue with his helmet’s chinstrap, which broke just as he was preparing to face the bowler, Shakib Al Hasan. This led to a delay as Mathews signalled to the Sri Lankan dugout for a replacement helmet.

Despite this, the umpires ruled that Mathews had crossed the two-minute mark even before the strap of his helmet broke, leading to his dismissal. This decision was upheld following an appeal by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, much to Mathews’ dismay.

The Sri Lankan player argued that he was prepared to face the bowler within the time limit and provided video evidence with time-stamped screenshots to support his claim that he still had five seconds left even after the helmet issue.

India cricketer Dinesh Karthik, while speaking on the incident said that Mathews failed to show presence of mind during the incident against Bangladesh. Karthik argued that if Mathews had faced one ball and then asked for a change of gear, nothing would have happened.

“If Angelo Mathews would have faced one ball and then asked for the helmet, nothing would have happened. I don’t think that he had the presence of mind at that point, but more importantly, I think that never in his wildest dreams, Mathews would have thought that somebody would have asked for timed-out. That is the more important thing,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

Following the match, Mathews expressed his frustration, calling Bangladesh’s actions “disgraceful” and criticising the umpires for lacking “common sense”. He argued that his dismissal was due to a simple case of “equipment malfunction”, a safety issue that should have been considered. Despite this, Shakib defended the appeal and stated that everything was within the rules.