‘I felt like I was at war’: Shakib defends timed out appeal

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan was in no mood to make concessions when he decided to make an appeal to time out Sri Lanka batter Angelo Mathews in his side’s three-wicket win over the Lankans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday.  

A horrid run of six straight defeats had left Bangladesh up against the wall, with a qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy still at stake. 

The Bangladesh captain defended his decision underlining the fact that he had grounds to make an appeal for a time out as it is within the laws of the game. 

“One of our fielders came to me and said that if I appealed, he would be out. The umpire asked me if I was serious. It’s in the laws; I don’t know if it’s right or wrong. 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 said in the post-match press conference.

Shakib appealed to the on-field umpire after Mathews took over two minutes to take guard following the dismissal of Sadeera Samawickrama in the 25th over of the innings. He was unable to secure his helmet strap tightly enough, an action which delayed the resumption of play.

The delay was in breach of ICC’s Law 40.1 which reads, “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called be ready to receive the ball or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out.”

The appeal for a time out was upheld after on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth talked to Shakib and Mathews. Desperate for a win, Shakib went on with the decision as Mathews trudged off in dissent.