Angelo Mathews Criticizes Bangladesh Team’s ‘Disgraceful’ Actions in Controversial Match

Angelo Mathews expressed strong disapproval of Shakib Al Hasan’s and the Bangladesh team’s actions on Monday, deeming them “clearly disgraceful.” Mathews, a seasoned international cricket player with 15 years of experience, was critical of the incident in which he was declared “timed-out” against Bangladesh.

According to Mathews, in his extensive cricket career, he had never witnessed a team or player stooping to such lows. He found it “unfortunate” that his helmet strap broke during a match against Bangladesh, as he believed that “no other team would resort to such tactics.”

The dispute arose when Angelo Mathews was given out without facing a single delivery, citing the “timed-out” rule. Mathews had taken his position at the crease and was preparing to face Shakib’s bowling when his helmet strap snapped as he attempted to secure it. He requested a helmet replacement but was declared out following Bangladesh’s appeal, a mere three minutes and 20 seconds later.

Mathews criticized Shakib and the Bangladesh team, labeling their actions as “obviously disgraceful” and expressing concern about their willingness to adopt such tactics. He felt that their behavior indicated a significant issue.

He distinguished between this situation and other forms of dismissal like “mankading” or “obstructing the field,” emphasizing that there would have been no problem if it were one of those more conventional dismissals.

According to ICC playing conditions, a new batter must be “ready to receive the ball” within two minutes of a dismissal; otherwise, they can be given out. However, in this case, Mathews’s helmet strap broke about one minute and 55 seconds after the previous catch was completed, just as Mathews was preparing to face Shakib but hadn’t taken his guard yet.

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Mathews recounted, “Within two minutes, I was at the crease, and it was when I was at the crease that my helmet broke. The umpires saw this. I still had five seconds left. After I showed my helmet, the umpires said (Bangladesh) had appealed. So I asked where common sense was because my two minutes hadn’t passed.”

He expressed his frustration with the incident and emphasized that it was a safety concern as well since facing the bowling without a helmet is risky.

Both Angelo Mathews and Shakib Al Hasan had known each other from their U-19 days, but Mathews’ perspective on Shakib changed after this controversy.

Mathews said, “Up to today, I had the utmost respect for him and the Bangladesh team. You all play to win. If it’s within the rules, it’s clearly fine. But in my incident today, within two minutes I was clearly there. We have video evidence, and we’ll issue a statement later to support our claims. I’m not making baseless accusations; I’m speaking with evidence. From the time the catch was taken to the time I walked into the crease, I still had five seconds after my helmet broke.”

Mathews noted that Shakib had the option to withdraw his appeal but chose not to do so, despite Mathews explaining the situation.

The controversy extended beyond the match, as the Sri Lankan team refused to shake hands with the Bangladesh players following Bangladesh’s victory.

Mathews commented on this, saying, “You need to respect people who respect us. They have to respect the game itself. We are all ambassadors of this beautiful game, including the umpires. If you don’t respect and use common sense, what more can you ask for?”