'Desperate' Shakib resorted to timed out dismissal

"Became a part of history, man!" said Indian commentator Sanjay Manjrekar as he left the commentary box after Angelo Mathews became the first batter in international cricket to get 'Timed out'.

Asked to opine about the dismissal, Manjrekar chose not to comment any further. However, his fellow commentator, Pakistan's Waqar Younis, did not hesitate at all before declaring that the dismissal was against the game's spirit.

Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful, who is working as an analyst for a Bangladeshi broadcaster during the World Cup, saw it all happen from the press box and echoed Waqar's opinion.

"This is the first time in my life I have seen something like this," Ashraful told The Daily Star.

"I know that there is a dismissal called 'Timed out'. We would joke around using it in domestic cricket, but we never used it. This is the first time I have seen something like this happen in international cricket," he added.

Ashraful feels that the Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan could have easily revoked the appeal but sheer desperation to win had come in the way.

"This was definitely the captain's call. We saw it with our own eyes. He spoke with the umpire. Although we saw it from a distance, we could see on video that the umpire was asking him repeatedly- are you sure you want to appeal? He smilingly said yes. This goes against the spirit of cricket," Ashraful added.

Mathews' dismissal also caused a wave of varying opinions in the gallery at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Even though it was a match where the qualification for the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy was the only real stake, thousands flocked to the venue, majority of whom were Bangladeshis.

Bangladeshis living in Delhi, studying in India and even people from back home flew in to watch the match from the stands.

Mahfuz Ahmed, one of the Bangladeshi fans, said at the innings break, "I saw Mathews enter the field on time, but had problems with his helmet as he was about to take strike. Had he [Shakib] let go of the matter, it would've added to the beauty of the game. What happened wasn't pretty."

But there were also some fans who didn't see an issue with Shakib opting to go for the dismissal, as they wanted to see the Tigers break the six-match losing streak by any means necessary.

"As it's in the law, Bangladesh did nothing wrong by going for the dismissal. You can do anything to win," said Rahul, another Bangladeshi fan.

There were also some Sri Lankan and neutral Indians in the stands, who were unanimously opposed to the dismissal.

Manoj Baan, one of those fans, said, "Mathews wasn't late intentionally. He had some issue with his helmet. By not considering it, Bangladesh set an ugly example."