Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Players Refuse to Shake Hands After Controversial Dismissal

The frostiness over a controversial dismissal involving Angelo Mathews and Shakib Al Hasan spilled over to the post-match customs as the Sri Lankan players refused to shake hands with their Bangladesh counterparts after being eliminated from the cricket world cup 2023 semi-finals race on Monday.

Mathews became part of international cricket history when he was ‘timed out’ after Bangladesh’s appeal resulting in the Sri Lankan allrounder heading back to the dressing room without facing a delivery.

Addressing the controversy during an explosive press conference, Mathews said that by not withdrawing the appeal against him, Bangladesh didn’t respect them and hence their refusal to shake hands.

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“Yeah, you need to respect people who respect us,” Mathews told reporters after the match in Delhi. “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?”

After Sadeera Samarawickrama’s departure, Mathews walked in as the next batter. However, after reaching the batting crease, he called for a replacement equipment after realising the strap of his helmet was broken.

The process took time and it was then that Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed for a ‘timed out’ and the umpires gave Mathews the marching orders despite the Sri Lankan arguing he had reached the batting crease inside two minutes – the official deadline for a new batter to be ready to face the bowler after the fall of a wicket.

Mathews said Shakib had the option of withdrawing his appeal since he was aware there was no intention to waste time on his part.

“Yes, Shakib had the option of – he knew that this was not time-wasting or I was there within my time. And he had the choice of, but he decided to go the other way. And my personal opinion is, if it was any other team, they wouldn’t have done it,” he said.