Follow UsBangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan revealed that it was a fielder that alerted him about the ‘timed out’ dismissal and said that he refused to withdraw the appeal because he felt like he was ‘at war’.
On Monday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Angelo Mathews became the first cricketer in international cricket history to be dismissed ‘timed out’ after Bangladesh appealed due to the 35-year-old taking more than the allotted two minutes to be ready to face his first ball.
Mathews’ delay was exacerbated by an equipment malfunction but Shakib stuck with his appeal and, as a result, the batter was declared out.
The Bangladesh captain has since come under fire on social media for an alleged ‘unsportsmanlike’ act but in the aftermath of the game, the 36-year-old asserted that he is not too bothered by whether what he did was ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ because he played by the books.
“One of our fielders came to me and said if you appeal now he'll be out. Then I appealed and the umpires asked me if I'm serious or whether I am going to take it back,” Shakib revealed at the post-match presentation.
“It's in the laws. I don't know if it's right or wrong. I was at war and I had to take a decision to make sure my team wins. Right or wrong, there will be debates but if it is in the rules I don't mind taking those chances.”
READ: Why was Angelo Mathews "timed out"?
The altercation also seemingly fired up Shakib, as in the second innings, he posted his first fifty-plus score of the tournament, scoring an aggressive 82 to help Bangladesh kill the chase.
Post the game, Shakib admitted that the controversy motivated him to put in that much more effort.
“The altercation helped, bit more fight, I'm 36 and normally fights don’t come easily but happy it did today,” the Bangladesh captain said.
With the victory on Monday, Bangladesh moved into the Top 8 to stay alive in the race to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Given the Tigers cannot make the semis of the World Cup, Shakib rued the inconsistent showings but the skipper insisted that it’s better to show up late than to not show up at all.
“I'd agree that we left it late. We could have been consistent, that's one disappointment. But it’s better late than never.”
Bangladesh finish their World Cup campaign against Australia in Pune on Saturday (November 11th).