Angelo Mathews timed out: Gautam Gambhir, Michael Vaughan, Usman Khawaja and others have their say

If all the conventional cricketing action wasn't exciting enough, the World Cup 2023 has now thrown up a new kind of headline for us to savour and ponder. Earlier today, on November 6th, Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews was adjudged 'timed out' during the clash against Bangladesh after the latter's captain Shakib Al Hasan took a rather blunt call. 

Mathews, yet to face a ball, reached the batting crease but found his helmet to be faulty and summoned the 12th man for a replacement. While he waited, Shakib would appeal and get an affirmative from the umpires who declared the Lankan batter out. As a result, Angelo Mathews walked back to his team dug-out evidently dejected and angry, after having become the first player in history to be judged 'timed out'. 

Also Read: BAN vs SL: Angelo Mathews becomes 1st cricketer to be dismissed by timed-out - What we know about the dismissal 

And quite obviously, the bizarre dismissal has left the cricket community at large perplexed as opinions, views and even harsh criticism come pouring in. While fans and aficionados of the sport have their say, some of cricket's greats have come out with their perspectives to make the matter more intriguing. 

"Absolutely pathetic," says Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian World Cup hero, is not known to ever mince words and he was at his plain-spoken best while addressing the dismissal in his tweet.

"Absolutely pathetic what happened in Delhi today! #AngeloMathews," wrote the left-hand batter on social media. 

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Australia's test opener Usman Khawaja pointed out the fact that Mathews had already made his crease when the helmet concern showed up, which technically removes him from being judged 'timed out'. "This is ridic (ridiculous) wrote Khawaja who was evidently displeased with what happened at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi.

"The bottom line is Angelo Mathews wasn't ready" - S. Badrinath

Former Chennai Super Kings and India batter S. Badrinath chose to take a different stance as he pointed out that beyond sportsmanship and morals, the bottom line is that Angelo Mathews wasn't ready to face the ball within two minutes of the previous dismissal. 

In the same vein, Badrinath would also clarify that had he been in Angelo Mathews' place, he would broken "more than just a helmet". 

"If I was #Shakib I would not have appealed as a Captain and I would have broken more than just a helmet if I was #AngeloMathews #SLvsBan," he wrote in the subsequent tweet.

"Timed OUT for helmet issues .. that’s a new one," wrote Ashes-winning former England skipper Michael Vaughan, who allowed everyone else around to do the talking while he soaked it all in. 

"Mathews did not inform umpires" - Farvez Maharoof

Vaughan's teammate Steve Harmison, while speaking to ESPNcricinfo, noted that Angelo Mathews' helmet issue was a 'genuine mistake' and that Sri Lanka had nothing to gain with delaying things in the middle. He added that while Bangladesh was running behind the over-rate, he was still "disappointed that Mathews was given out the way he was" as a former cricketer. 

Ex-Sri Lankan player Farvez Maharoof, during the same discussion, said that the only mistake that Angelo Mathews made was that he did not inform the umpires or the captain of the opposition side that he had to change the helmet. "If he had done it, I doubt Marais Erasmus (umpire) would have given him out," he added.