Sri Lanka middle-order batsman Angelo Mathews has been given the march-past as “timed out”, which is the first ever incident in international cricket.
It happened during the Bangladesh v Sri Lanka game in New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium Monday, paving the way for debates among commentators on air in TV and also among fans on social media.
The incident occurred after the second ball of the 25th over when Sadeera Samarawickrama got out against Shakib al Hasan.
The next batsman Mathews came out to bat and took his guard at the crease.
Just before preparing to face the first ball, he tried to fix the lace of his helmet and it was seen that the strap was torn.
Then he immediately turned and asked for a new helmet.
Sri Lankan substitute player Chamika Karunaratne later came to the field with a new helmet and after wearing it Mathews was set to face the first delivery.
But in between, captain Shakib and vice-captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto were seen talking with umpire Marais Erasmus.
All three were seen engaged in a conversation with smiling faces and later Shakib appealed officially with a gesture “out that”?
Then Erasmus went towards the leg umpire to discuss the matter.
By that time, Mathews looked surprised and talked to the umpires about his helmet, which caused the extra time after taking guard.
Mathews even talked to Shakib but the Bangladesh skipper appeared to point at the umpires, indicating them to decide the next course of action.
And later, Mathews was declared timed out, which is the first ever instance in international cricket.
Although he was at the crease and ready to face the ball within the time limit of two minutes or 120 seconds after a batsman getting out, his helmet changing incident saw him lose his wicket which in total took almost five minutes.
Mathews looked extremely frustrated while returning to the pavilion and threw his helmet in frustration after crossing the boundary.
