Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that he felt like he was 'at war' when he decided to approach the umpire to request that Angelo Mathews be 'timed out' for not adhering to the two-minute rule following a wicket's fall.
After the appeal, Mathews engaged in a discussion with umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth while also conferring with Shakib.
Despite the animated exchange, the Bangladesh skipper did not withdraw his appeal and ultimately Mathews was given out.
Following the match, Shakib said, "I felt like I was at war. Whatever I had to do, I did it. There will be debates. Today that (the time out) helped, I won't deny that!"
Shakib also mentioned that one of his fielders had suggested that making the appeal would lead to Mathews being ruled out as he highlighted the strategic nature of the decision.
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis expressed his disappointment with the situation. He expressed that the umpires should have made a more judicious decision.
Mendis emphasized that Mathews discovered the issue with his helmet strap when there were only five seconds left before entering the crease.
Bangladesh chased down the 280-run target, winning the match by seven wickets in 41.1 overs.
Read here: Explained: What is 'timed out' rule in cricket?
Mendis believed that an additional 30-40 runs could have made a significant difference for his team.
Later in a post-match presser, Angelo Mathews said of the incident, "It was disgraceful from Shakib Al Hasan and Bangladesh. If they want to play cricket like that, there is something wrong drastically. Just disgraceful. Up to today I had a lot of respect for Shakib, but he lost all. We have video evidence, we will put it out later."
Angelo Mathews speaks in Press conference and is whole fired up 🤣🔥#SLvBAN pic.twitter.com/GKXg8kf8UH
— Div🦁 (@div_yumm) November 6, 2023
