ODI WC 2023: Ravichandran Ashwin gives his verdict on Angelo Mathews’ ‘timed out’ saga

Some days back, former Sri Lanka captain and veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews became the first ever cricketer to be dismissed ‘timed out’ in an international match. The unfortunate incident happened during the ODI World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh after captain Shakib Al Hasan had appealed for it.

Several fans and experts slammed Shakib for the controversial incident and termed it as ‘disgraceful’. Now, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has given his take on the controversial subject.

Speaking on his official YouTube channel on Friday, Ashwin said that the inconsistency of the usage of this variety of dismissal. He further said that he came across a video on social media where Shakib had forgotten to get his guard in a match against Sri Lanka and he was allowed to bring it with none from the opposition team appealing for timed out. The veteran off-spinner however admitted that while Mathews was rightfully disappointed, the Bangladesh captain had all the right to appeal for the dismissal.

“One side is talking about the rules and another side is talking about the spirit of cricket. When Mathews came out to bat, his helmet was not okay, and he wanted to change that. I saw another video where Shakib did not bring his guard against Sri Lanka and he was allowed to bring it later. It has almost become warfare between these two countries,” said Ashwin.

“Actually with timed-out, yes Shakib appealed and the umpire gave it out, agreed. Recently, there has been information that Mathews was already warned by the umpires about the timed-out dismissal. But Mathews was really upset that he got out, and rightly so. No one should get out like that, everyone will feel bad about that,” he added.