'In my 15 years of career...' - Angelo Mathews slams Shakib, Bangladesh after controversial timed out dismissal

World Cup 2023 is heating up, and the effect can be seen even on the eliminated teams. As if the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka rivalry wasn’t infamous already, the drama on the field in Delhi has popularised it further. In fact, this drama has taken the tussle to a whole new level altogether.

Angelo Mathews was timed out, making him the first-ever batter in international cricket to get dismissed this way. Later, Mathews gave an ugly send-off to Shakib Al Hasan during the second innings to exacerbate things. Eventually, Bangladesh won, but the talks are not going to settle for the next few days.

During the post-match chat, both - Angelo Mathews and Shakib Al Hasan - expressed their opinions on the dismissal. While Mathews was obviously still fuming at the decision, Shakib found it unfortunate but within the rule book. It’s hard to blame a particular party here.

When Shakib Al Hasan was asked whether he has any regrets about not withdrawing the appeal, he assertively replied, “Not at all”. He then explained what transpired in the middle.

“One of our fielders came to me and said, if you appeal, the law says he's out because he hasn't taken his guard within the time frame. So, then I appealed to the umpires, umpire told me whether you're going to call him back or not if I said he's out, then you call him back, it doesn't look good. I said I won't call him back. We played under-19 together, World Cup, so I know Angelo for a long, long time, since 2006. Yeah, unfortunate, but within the rules.”

When asked whether he should have called Mathews back since it was against the spirit of cricket, Shakib stated, “Well, then ICC should look into it and change the rules.”

Also Read: WATCH: Angelo Mathews gives a witty send-off to Shakib Al Hasan

Later, Angelo Mathews also attended the press conference, where he was asked about the same incident, and he found no fault of his own amidst the whole incident.

“Yeah, because I haven't done anything wrong,” stated Mathews. “I have two minutes to get to the crease and get myself ready, which I did. And then it was an equipment malfunction. And I don't know where the common sense went, because obviously it's obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh if they want to play cricket like that obviously stooped down to that level.”

On not shaking hands with the opposition, Mathews said he can only respect someone who respects him and his team.

“Yeah, you need to respect people who respect us. It doesn't mean that - they have to respect the game itself. I mean, we all are ambassadors of this beautiful game, including the umpires. So then, if you don't respect and if you don't use your common sense, what more can you ask for?”

Angelo Mathews went on to say that no other team apart from Bangladesh would have asked for this kind of dismissal.

“Up to today, I had the utmost respect to him and Bangladesh team. I think in my 15 years of career, I've never seen a team going down to that level,” exclaimed Mathews.

“Yes, I think, unfortunately, it happened against Bangladesh. I don't think any other team would do that because it was black and white. It was equipment, the helmet coming off and it was a safety issue as well, because we know that without a helmet, I cannot face a bowler. And my personal opinion is, if it was any other team, they wouldn't have done it.”

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