Sri Lanka fight controversy with controversy, refuse handshake with ...

Nov 07, 2023 08:32 AM IST

The Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh World Cup 2023 match at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in Delhi would not only go down as one of the most controversial ones of this tournament but also in the entire history of World Cups. The match had its heated moments right from the beginning whether it was a war of words between Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis and Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib or the stare games between Charith Asalanka and the Bangladesh bowlers but all hell broke lose when Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews was given out timed out in the 25th over. He became the first cricketer to be given out timed out in the history of international cricket.

Sri Lanka players walk away without shaking hands with Bangladesh players

Were the umpires right? What is the exact timed out rule? Should Shakib have withdrawn the appeal? The questions were plenty and the debate never ending. Naturally, there was a lot of anger coming in from the Sri Lanka camp. Mathews was seen throwing his helmet and gloves in disgust while entering the dugout even as captain Kusal Mendis and coach Chris Silverwood looked on in disbelief.

The umpires gave clarification about the rule but Mathews didn't agree. He said he had reached the crease within the two-minute time and afterwards the strap of his helmet broke, which should be counted as a safety equipment malfunction.

When it was Sri Lanka's turn to field, they gave a feisty reception to Shakib when he walked out to bat. Mathews also gave a send-off to Shakib by pointing towards his wrist to signal time out when the latter was dismissed. The tension continued well after the match ended in Bangladesh's favour.

As soon as Bangladesh got the winning runs via leg byes in the 42nd over, the Sri Lanka players shook hands with the umpires and walked off. They refused to shake hands with the Bangladesh batters - Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Towhid Hridoy - in the middle. The players didn't line up to exchange pleasantries, something which is normal after every cricket match. The Sri Lankan players walked off the field without handshakes. There were no attempts from the Bangladesh camp either to douse the fire. The support staff of both sides, however, did shake hands.

When Mathews was asked about Sri Lanka's decision not to shake hands with the Bangladesh players after the match, the former Sri Lanka captain said the Bangladesh players didn't respect them or the game and hence they shouldn't ask for cordial behaviour in return.

"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?" he said.

Sri Lanka was eliminated from World Cup semifinal contention by Bangladesh. Bangladesh won by three wickets with nearly nine overs to spare and ended a six-match losing run.

Najmul Hossain Shanto, 90, and skipper Shakib Al Hasan, 82, who stood by his timed out appeal against Mathews, featured as the Bangladesh top order finally clicked to reach 282-7 in 41.1 overs.

Sri Lanka was all out for 279 and propped up by Charith Asalanka’s brilliant 108. Mathews, as a bowler, gave Sri Lanka a sniff when he dismissed Shakib and Shanto in consecutive overs to end a beefy 169-run stand off 149 balls between the two Bangladesh left-handers, but the tailenders hung in to see them home.

Mathews should have dismissed Shakib on 7 in the 11th over, but Asalanka dropped a sitter at short extra cover.

Shakib and Shanto made their match-winning stand while dew was making it difficult to grip the wet ball. They scored at a rapid pace before Asalanka made amends very late when he held onto the leading edge off Shakib’s bat.

Shanto hit 12 fours in his 101-ball knock before he was clean bowled by Matthews. Shanto made an unbeaten 59 in Bangladesh’s opening win against Afghanistan but followed with only 28 runs across the next six games.

Left-arm fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka picked up 3-69 to be the leading wicket-taker of the World Cup with 21.

Madushanka, who picked up the wickets of openers Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das inside the batting powerplay, clean-bowled Musfiqur Rahim in his return spell, but Towhid Hridoy made an unbeaten 15 with two pulled sixes to get Bangladesh home.