NEW DELHI: Angelo Mathews demanded “justice” from the ICC and branded Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan “a cheat” on social media after becoming the first player to be ‘timed out’ in international cricket at the World Cup.

Mathews had already made his feelings clear in the press conference after the defeat that ended Sri Lanka’s hopes of progressing at the World Cup, saying Shakib’s appeal for the controversial dismissal had been “disgraceful”.

The 36-year-old had breached the World Cup rule that a new batter must be ready to face a delivery within two minutes of a wicket falling.

Mathews said in a post on X, formally known as Twitter, that he had been in place with seconds to spare before the chinstrap on his helmet broke requiring a new one to be brought out, backing up his position with time-stamped video screenshots.

“Video evidence shows I still had five more seconds even after the helmet gave away!” he wrote. “Can the fourth umpire rectify this please? I mean safety is paramount as I just couldn’t face the bowler without a helmet.

“This is clear cheating, I want justice,” he added in another post.

That directly contradicted fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock.

“In the incident this afternoon, the batter wasn’t ready to receive the ball within those two minutes even before the strap became an issue for him,” he said in an on-pitch interview after the game at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

“As a batsman, I think you need to make sure you have all your equipment in place ... because you actually have to be ready to receive the ball within two minutes, not ready to prepare or take your guard.”

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2023