"They should get out of it" - Najmul Hossain Shanto advises Sri Lanka to move on from timed-out incident of 2023 World Cup
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto believes Sri Lanka are still not ready to let go of the timed-out incident. Shanto defended the dismissal, stating that they were within the rules to do it.
The timed-out incident took place during the 2023 World Cup game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. With Angelo Mathews allegedly appearing late to the crease to the bat, then captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed and the umpire ruled it out, sparking controversy.
With the Sri Lankans celebrating their T20I series win over Bangladesh by pointing to their watches, the 25-year-old called for them to stay in the present. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he stated after the third T20I:
"It is not about aggressive handling or anything like that. They showed the timed-out gesture, right? They haven't moved on from the timed-out incident. I think they should get out of it. They should stay in the present. We were within the rules [with the timed out dismissal]. They are in a frenzy about it. I am not too worried about it."
An umpiring controversy also transpired in the second T20I as Binura Fernando drew a nick from Soumya Sarkar. Sarkar challenged the on-field decision with the DRS, but despite spotting something on snicko, the third umpire ruled it not out.
Naveed Nawaz downplays Najmul Hossain Shanto's comments
Sri Lanka's assistant coach Naveed Nawaz responded to Shanto's comments, claiming that Bangladesh misunderstood their gesture and that the atmosphere is not heated as such.
"I think we have moved on from that [timed-out incident]. I think it was a celebration which was misunderstood at that time. It was during the heat of the game. Both teams should forget about it. I think both teams play really hard," Nawaz said.
"The atmosphere is really nice. They all give their 100%. Sometimes emotions come into the middle. The players are all very friendly outside the boundary line. They fight really hard once they are inside the ground," he added.
After Sri Lanka made 174 in 20 overs, headlined by Kusal Mendis' 86, Nuwan Thushara rocked Bangladesh with his hat-trick. The hosts managed only 146 in response.