The 'timed out' controversy has became a big news in the world of sports. And there are enough reasons for it to happen. The dismissal of Sri Lanka star Angelo Mathews was the first timed out dismissal in the 146 history of international cricket. The decision of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan to appeal for a 'timed out' dismissal after Angelo Mathews took over two minutes to get ready to face the ball, as per the rules of the Cricket World Cup, has been widely discussed. The umpires deemed Angelo Mathews and he was left an unhappy man.
The repercussions of that dismissal has been huge. The whole cricket world got divided as Shakib Al Hasan was well within the rules to appeal for the dismissal, but then some former cricketers like Gautam Gambhir were not happy. Gautam Gambhir called the act 'absolutely pathetic.
In the midst of this an interesting incident happened during the England vs Netherlands Cricket World Cup match. According to several social media posts, England star Chris Woakes face some problems with his helmet. He showed it to the umpired so that not to get get 'timed out'. The move prompted funny reaction from social media users.
Angelo Mathews on Monday called Bangladesh's decision to dismiss him via 'time out' as "disgraceful" and said it had left him in "complete shock". Mathews became the first batter to be timed out in international cricket as Bangladesh officially knocked Sri Lanka out of the World Cup with a three-wicket win in a dramatic match which was held amid severe air pollution here on Monday.
"I haven't done anything wrong. I had two minutes to get ready which I did but there was an equipment malfunction and I don't know where commonsense (had) gone. It was disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh," Mathews said during the post-match press conference.
"If they want to play cricket like that, stoop to that level, it is something wrong drastically. If I got late, past my two minutes and the law says I have to get ready in two minutes, I still had five more seconds to go.
"It was just pure commonsense, I am not saying (doing) 'Mankading' or obstructing the field here, It is absolutely disgraceful." Mathews' dismissal added another chapter to the bitter rivalry between the two teams when he was timed out, the first instance in international cricket across formats.