Shanto on Timed Out celebration: ‘Sri Lanka are yet to move on from that dismissal’
Shanto was the one who actually told the then captain Shakib Al Hasan during the famous World Cup game to appeal for a timed out dismissal when Angelo Mathews was late to take guard because of a helmet malfunction.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said Sri Lanka were yet to move on from the much-debated "Timed Out" dismissal after the visitors pointed to an imaginary wristwatch while celebrating their T20I series win in Sylhet on Saturday.
Shanto was the one who actually told the then captain Shakib Al Hasan during the famous World Cup game to appeal for a timed out dismissal when Angelo Mathews was late to take guard because of a helmet malfunction.
An angry Mathews blasted Shakib and Bangladesh at the press conference after that match, saying he had lost all respect for the Bangladesh all-rounder. Earlier, Mathews brought out the "Timed Out" celebration after Shakib was dismissed in that match.
Shoriful Islam brought back the memories as he mimicked Mathews' celebration after dismissing Avishka Fernando in the first T20I. Sri Lanka's celebration was a reply to that.
"There is nothing to handle aggressively when it comes to this," Shanto told reporters after the match. "I think they are yet to move on from the timed out dismissal. They should move on and stay in the present since we didn't do anything outside the rules of cricket. I think they are making a fuss about it but we are not worried about it."
Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka's ODI skipper and T20I opener, said they celebrated like this because they were "happy".
"Everyone can celebrate in their own way and I think we didn't do it like that as everyone was happy and celebrated," Mendis said.
In reply to Shanto's statement, Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz, who famously coached Shoriful and Co. to an U-19 World Cup win in 2020, insisted that they have already moved on from that.
"I think we have moved on from that. It was a celebration which was misunderstood at that time. It was during the heat of the game and I think both teams should forget about it and move on and not take anything from here," Nawaz stated.