The Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh rivalry elevated to a new level altogether after all-rounder Angelo Mathews was dismissed ‘timed out’ following an appeal from Shakib Al Hasan. While Shakib wasn’t interested in withdrawing the appeal, the saga didn’t end their. The two teams’ players didn’t even shake hands with each other after the game. When Mathews was asked about the incident by a reporter in the post-match press conference, the all-rounder, he gave a blunt response, saying that they would respect people who would respect them.
After the game, Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis took the team directly to the dressing room, avoiding the customary handshake with the Bangladesh players. As Mathews complained about Shakib and his team’s decision to appeal for ‘timed out’, a reporter questioned his the Lankans’ behaviour after they avoided the handshake.
Reporter:You spoke about the Bangladesh players’ behaviour being absolutely not on. What about the behaviour of your own players, refusing to shake hands with the opposition?
Angelo Mathews: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?
When asked if there needs to be more clarity on dismissals like this, obstructing the field, etc., Mathews said that the rules are clear but there needs to be ‘common sense’ over certain dismissals, as in his case, it was the helmet issue that resulted in a delay.
“No, I think in terms of Mankading and, say, obstructing the field, the rules are quite clear. I mean, because the rule clearly says that if you’re out of your crease, the bowler can break the stumps. So, if you’re in line of the stumps and if you’re obstructing the ball being hit to the stumps, then it clearly says you’re out.
“But here, where is the common sense? Here, I think in my 15 years of career, I’ve never seen a team going down to that level because obviously the umpires also admitted that it’s equipment malfunction, and they could have gone upstairs and checked again.
“It was clearly a malfunction. I mean, it just came off. You know, I didn’t mean to pull it and break it. I still had my time as well and I was in complete shock,” he asserted.
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