'He should learn from Rohit Sharma': Ex-IND player blasts Shakib's 'winning at all cost' belief after Mathews timed out
The former India cricketer blasted Shakib, reminding him of a Rohit Sharma act from an ODI game earlier this year.
Arguably the most heated, yet underrated rivalry in modern cricket, between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, reached a new level on Monday evening at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi when veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews was 'Timed Out' before the start of his knock, making him the first ever player in international cricket history to be dismissed in that manner. The dismissal created quite a stir with Mathews later refusing to shake hands and labelling Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan as "disgraceful" while the Sri Lanka cricketer found support from a number of former India cricketers. Mohammad Kaif was among them who blasted Shakib, reminding him of a Rohit Sharma act from an ODI game earlier this year.
Earlier this year, in an ODI game between India and Sri Lanka, fast bowler Mohammed Shami caught opposition skipper Dasun Shanaka, who was at the non-striker end, short of the crease during his delivery stride. Shami, following the laws of cricket, inflicted a run out and appealed, but Rohit immediately took away the appeal.
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Kaif was utterly impressed with that act back then as he had shared pictures from that incident while captioning it: “Rohit's withdrawal of appeal gives an idea about his leadership. He believes in winning, but not 'winning at all cost'. Nothing right or wrong here, it's what your heart says.”
Re-sharing the old post on X, Kaif wrote: “Shakib should learn from Rohit Sharma.”
On Monday, Mathews had walked out to bat after Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama. But as he looked to gear up to face his first delivery, the chin-strap on his helmet broke while he was adjusting it. He straightaway signalled the dugout for a new helmet, but Shakib, who was the bowler for that over, immediately appealed for 'Timed Out'.
According to the fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock, the Sri Lanka batter was over the two-minute mark, the maximum time allotted to each player to get ready to face the first ball as per the ICC Playing Conditions, however the former Sri Lanka captain later claimed in the post-match conference that he had time to before the strap came off.
