Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan batsman, took to social media to demand justice from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and called Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan a cheat. This came after Mathews became the first player in international cricket to be ‘timed out’ at the World Cup on Monday. He had already expressed his frustration in a press conference, stating that Shakib’s appeal for the controversial dismissal had been “disgraceful”. Mathews, who had breached the World Cup rule requiring a new batter to be ready to face a delivery within two minutes of a wicket falling, shared video evidence on X, formerly known as Twitter, to support his claim that he still had time left to prepare even after the helmet strap broke. This led to a dispute with the fourth umpire, who claimed that Mathews was not ready to receive the ball within the given time frame, even before the helmet issue arose.
Several former cricketers, including Dale Steyn, Usman Khawaja, Gautam Gambhir, Waqar Younis, and Mohammad Kaif, supported Mathews and criticized the incident. They accused Shakib of breaking the spirit of cricket by appealing for the dismissal and not reconsidering his decision, despite being asked to do so by the on-field umpires.
In contrast, Shakib defended his actions, stating that he was within the rules and had no regrets. He received backing from former England captain Michael Vaughan, who argued that the spirit of the game had always been more honored in the breach. He dismissed the criticism, stating that Shakib was well within his rights and that the umpire had made the correct decision.