West Indies’ cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop made a shocking revelation during Bangladesh’s run chase against Sri Lanka. Bishop revealed that the on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth asked Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan twice whether he wanted to withdraw the appeal against Angelo Mathews but he denied it.
“Contrasting stories about whether time had elapsed or not. Sri Lanka did not believe that the time had gone and the umpire said they approached Shakib Al Hasan twice and asked him if he wanted to withdraw the appeal because he initiated it and Shakib said 'no' twice,” Bishop said on Star Sports.
Mathews could not face the first ball within two minutes after Sri Lanka’s fourth wicket fell. When he arrived at the crease, he tried to adjust the strap on his helmet and it broke. Due to the malfunction, Mathews had to ask for the helmet and Shakib appealed for a timed-out.
Usually, a batter should take the strike within three minutes of a wicket. However, in the ongoing World Cup 2023, it has been reduced to two minutes.
Fourth umpire, Adrian Holdstock during the innings break tried to explain the dismissal as he said, “ICC World Cup playing Conditions supersede the entity laws of cricket. When it comes to 'timed out', the incoming batter has to be in position and ready to receive the ball within two minutes after the wicket or retirement of a batter. We have certain protocols within the PCT where the TV Umpire basically monitors for two minutes and then will relay the message to the umpire.”
Holdstock further said that Mathews was not even ready before Shakib appealed for 'Timed Out' as he said, "In the instance this afternoon, the batter wasn't ready to receive the ball within those two minutes. Even before the strap became an issue for him. Just to be clear, even before the strap became an issue, the time had already elapsed. Two minutes had already elapsed before he had received the next delivery.”
"The fielding captain Shakib initiated the appeal to the umpire Marais Erasmus that he wanted to appeal for the 'timed out'. This was just after the strap came loose."
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