BAN vs SL: Watch - Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Players Avoid Post-Match Handshakes After 'Angelo Mathews Incident'

In what could be labeled as shocking scenes, the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team and Bangladesh National Cricket Team players avoided the customary post-match handshakes after the 38th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday, November 6.

The match between the Asian giants was filled with a lot of drama and verbal spats. The players of both teams were extremely charged up and made the job difficult for the on-field umpires.

The reason behind things not being well between the teams was the controversial dismissal of Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews. The veteran player was declared timed out after Shakib Al Hasan’s appeal and it ignited the spirit of cricket debate.

Angelo Mathews faced some issues with his helmet due to which there was some delay in his readiness to face the bowler. The Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan had the opportunity to withdraw the appeal, but he refused to do that.

In the end, Bangladesh won the match by 3 wickets and many would have felt that it was finally the end of the dramas, but that wasn’t the case as the players decided to avoid the post-match handshakes, which is a tradition.

Watch – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Players Avoid Post-Match Handshakes

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— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) November 6, 2023

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— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) November 6, 2023

When asked about not shaking hands with Bangladesh players at the post-match press conference, the veteran Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews said “We’ll respect them if they respect us.”

Talking about his dismissal, Angelo Mathews said that Shakib Al Hasan disrespected him and the game by not withdrawing his appeal. He added that the incident has led to him losing all the respect he had for the Bangladesh captain. He said:

“It was disrespect from Shakib Al Hasan and Bangladesh. If they want to play cricket like that, there is something wrong drastically. So disrespectful. I had a lot of respect for Shakib but he lost all now. We have video evidence we will put it out later”.