‘These incidents come to basic human goodness’ – Matthew Hayden criticises Shakib Al Hasan over time out incident during ODI World Cup 2023
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has brutally criticized Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan over his recent decision to ‘Time out’ Angelo Matthews during the ODI World Cup 2023. The cricket fraternity has poorly reacted towards Shakib’s decision, most of the people have disagreed with his argument to be following the rules, since it disrupts the spirit of the game.
While talking about the controversial dismissal rule, Matthew Hayden emphasised that this rule completely damages the spirit of Cricket since it doesn’t even allow the batsman to showcase his skills on the field and play even a single ball.
Matthew Hayden on Timed out rule ruining the spirit of the game among teams
“I had a problem with [non-striker run outs], but I am not sure what you call my problem with this incident because it just goes to a new level of damage to the Spirit of the Game. I don’t care what code that you put up here, the laws of the game, it’s common sense. It’s a gentlemanly game, it’s not a win-at-all-cost game”, said Matthew Hayden.
“There have been instances over the years of cricketing history where it has turned into a win-at-all-cost type mentality. Australia just recently came through one with their scratching of the ball. That was something that, from an Australian cricket point of view, we were disgusted about,” he added.
“But these incidents, they come down just to basic human goodness, which our game reflects. That’s why it is a great survivor. It survived all sorts of humanitarian catastrophes over the years for the simple reasons as brothers or as sisters playing the game, you could embrace it at the end of it. You know, it could be hard for you on the field, and it was.”
“But here we are as gentlemen now, talking about the game and loving the game, and it must be protected. These sorts of things, they need their onus placed on their captains. Not the umpires, but the playing XI and in particular, the captain need to make a fortress around the spirit of cricket,” Hayden concluded.
