A fuming veteran Sri Lanka batsman and former captain Angelo Mathews branded the Bangladesh team and its captain as an entity that brought cricket to disrepute at the ongoing World Cup in India.
Mathews was reacting to his dismissal in their World Cup match against Bangladesh whose captain Shakib Al Hasan had him timed-out which never happened before in the history of international cricket.
“Upto now I had the utmost respect for him (Shakib) and the Bangladesh team. It was disgraceful on the part of Bangladesh to stoop down to that level”, said Mathews at a post match media briefing.
Shakib appealed for the umpires to rule out Mathews after he took time to face up to his first ball at the crease after he found his safety helmet malfunctioning and called for a replacement.
Under the rules a batsman can be ruled out for wasting time but Mathews said he was within the two minute allocation period.
“This was about player safety and we have video evidence that I still had five seconds left, the umpires admitted after the match that it was about equipment malfunctioning and they could have gone upstairs (television umpire) to check.
“But what is the point in not checking it at that time and checking it after it was all over,” said Mathews.
One of the most senior and experienced players at the current World Cup, Mathews saw the Bangladesh team unlike any other paying scant respect for decency and fair play.
He and his team refused to shake hands with the Bangladesh players after the match.
“Any other team would not have done this, you respect people who show respect. They have to respect the game including the umpires, we are all ambassadors,” said Mathews.
