Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan was satisfied he had the law on his side, which he did. His appeal caused Angelo Mathews to be ‘timed out’ at the World Cup, making the Sri Lankan the first player in international cricket to be dismissed thus.
Shakib said later, “It is in the laws. I don’t know if it is right or wrong. But I felt like I was at war. I had to take a decision to make sure my team wins and whatever I had to do, I had to do.”
Shakib makes two interesting points. One, he is not sure if he did the right thing. Moral ambiguity can be a sportsman’s companion. And two, he did it for his team. The suggestion is that all is fair in war and sport so long as in the latter case it is in the rules. And patriotism trumps everything else.
