The all-rounder for Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews, gave screenshots of ‘visual proof’ to refute the umpires’ decision to remove him from a highly contentious but historically significant time out during a World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh at Delhi’s Arun Jaitely Stadium.
After Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed, Mathews was given a time-out in an unusual situation that has never been witnessed in international cricket. In the 25th over of Sri Lanka’s innings, it happened. With the second ball of his over, Shakib had just removed Sadeera Samarawickrama from the game. Mathews approached the crease, but before he could lower his guard, he noticed that his helmet’s strap was broken. He requested a replacement without first getting permission from the umpires. Observing all this, the Bangladesh fielders decided to raise an appeal of time out against Mathews. After a long discussion including several pleas from Mathews to the umpires – Richard Illingworth and Marais Erasmus – and Shakib, the former Sri Lanka captain was declared timed out.
Mathews was seen flinging his helmet up in the air while entering the dugout and throwing his gloves and bat away in disgust. He became the first cricketer to be timed out in international cricket. After the incident sparked a never-ending debate.
What is the rule regarding timed out dismissals in cricket?
The rules of the game explicitly stipulate that the batter must be prepared to face the first ball within three minutes of the last dismissal, hence Shakib and the Bangladeshi players were right to file an appeal. However, the duration is two minutes during World Cups. There is no mention of an equipment malfunction as a potential outage for the batter in the playing conditions. Is it possible that Shakib withdrew the appeal? Shakib was questioned twice by the on-field umpires, but the skipper of Bangladesh chose to stick with his choice, as was later disclosed. Should the umpires have used their discretion and taken into account Mathews’ broken helmet strap when Shakib refused to drop the appeal.
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