Massive controversy erupted in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on Monday (November 6) as Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews was ruled ‘timed out’ in the match against Bangladesh at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
Mathews arrived in the middle leisurely after the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama during the 25th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Just before he was getting ready to face the first ball, the veteran all-rounder felt something wrong with his helmet and gestured towards the dressing room for a new one.
In the meantime, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan appealed for a timed out against Mathews and the latter was declared out.
This incident has triggered a debate in the cricket fraternity. Former Pakistan captains also shared their views on Mathews’ dismissal while speaking on A Sports.
While Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik categorically stated that they would not have appealed at all, Wasim Akram said it would depend on the situation.
On the other hand, Moin Khan supported Shakib, saying that he would have appealed as well.
"I would have not appealed," Malik and Misbah said unanimously.
"Depends. I have been truthful. Depends on the situation. Team kaun si hain, situation kya hain, but in general if you look at the bigger picture, mere jahan me yeh baat na aati [Depends on who is the team, what is the situation, but generally speaking it would not have crossed my mind]," Akram said.
"I think yeh main field par lene wala decision hota hai. I think who legally unhone decision theek liya. Koi bhi hota, agar uski team ka matter hota, winning or losing matter kari hoti uss waqt. Unhone clearly yeh baat boli. I think it was a good decision. Main hota toh main bhi le leta [These are decisions taken on the field. Legally, Shakib took the right decision. If it is a matter of winning or losing, which he clearly mentioned. It was a good decision and I would have appealed if I was the captain]," Moin said.
The ICC playing conditions pertaining to "timed out" dismissals state that after the fall of a wicket, the incoming batter must be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be declared timed out.
While Misbah agreed that it was within the law, he questioned the common sense of everyone involved in the case of Angelo Mathews’ dismissal.
"Fourth umpire ne toh clearly kah diya na ki equipment ki theek hona na hona yeh bhi batsman ki zimmedari hai. Theek hain, law me likha hai…OK, fine. But where is the common sense? Usne yu kiya tight karne ke liye, taeyaar tha who khelne ke liye, par woh strap nikal gaya hai, toh...[Fourth umpire has clearly stated that the responsibility of equipment falls on the batter. So by law, it was fine. But where is the common sense? Angelo was ready to bat, and when trying to strap his helmet it broke...]," Misbah said.
Akram further cited that there is no end to this debate, saying: "Yeh debate hum karte rahenge, iss debate ka koi answer nahi aana. Timing hui ki nahi huwi? But the main question everybody is asking is - ki Shakib ko appeal wapis leni chahiye thi ya appeal karni hi nahi chahiye thi? [There is no answer to this debate. Whether it was timed or not? But the main question everybody is asking is - should Shakib retract his appeal or he shouldn't have appealed at all?]"
"Har captain ki apni apni hoti hain. Agar main captain hota toh main kabhi bhi appeal nahi karta [Every captain is different. But if I were the captain, I would not have appealed]," Malik reiterated.
Misbah felt the incident left a bad taste and the remaining match was played in a tense environment.
"Mere khayal me bhi nahi. In the true spirit of the game. Ya toh tumhe koi nuksan ho raha hein, jaan bujh ke woh delay kar raha hain, aapki over delay ho jaati hain. Match ke result pe koi effect ho raha ho iss cheez ka, aap ko koi fine ho raha ho...But there was nothing. If you want to play proper cricket, 10 second, 15 second upper niche ho gaya toh, doesn't matter. Iske baad dekhe, 'where was the spirit of the game after that'. Ek ajeeb si khicha huwa maahol tha, ek dusre ko dekh rahe hain, it was all wrong. [I also wouldn't appeal. Either the delay was hurting your team or it was deliberate. Either it will affect the match result or you will be fined for the delay. But that was not the thing. 10-15 seconds delays do not matter. Look what has happened in the match after the incident. It was played in a tense environment]," Misbah stated.
(TOI Inputs)
