Really Irritating And Hurtful Towards The Game: AB de Villiers Slam Bangladesh For Recalling Ish Sodhi After His Run-Out

Bangladesh‘s decision to recall Ish Sodhi after he was run out at the non-striker’s end has divided the cricketing world into two halves. Now, AB de Villiers has also reacted to the incident. The incident took place during the second ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh.

In the 46th over of New Zealand’s innings, Bangladesh bowler Hasan Mahmud decided to take the bails off at the non-striker’s end after catching the New Zealand spinner wandering out of his crease. Mahmud appealed to umpire Marais Erasmus, and the decision rightly went in his favor.

It was a legitimate mode of dismissal but Bangladesh decided to stun the cricketing world by recalling Ish Sodhi. Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Litton Das was seen talking to the umpire before deciding to recall the New Zealand player. Ish Sodhi was delighted with Bangladesh’s gesture and was seen hugging Mahmud.

WOW HASAN MAHMUD WOW!!

Hasan becomes the first player from Bangladesh to run-out a batter in this fashion. ? #BANvNZ pic.twitter.com/5IE5sXq5Lb

— Saif Ahmed ?? (@saifahmed75) September 23, 2023

AB de Villiers reacts to Ish Sodhi’s dismissal:

Ish Sodhi’s dismissal and Bangladesh’s final call on it have divided opinions in the cricketing fraternity. While few sections have praised Bangladesh for showing sportsmanship, few sections have slammed them for undermining a legitimate mode of dismissal. And former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has also shared his views on the incident.

Expressing his disappointment over the incident, AB de Villiers explained why the bowling team shouldn’t be allowed to call the players back after the dismissal. Speaking on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers said that either the dismissal should be treated as any other in the game, or should be scrapped altogether.

“Something that is irritating me at the moment is the rule of the run out when the batter is leaving the crease. Ish Sodhi was called back by the captain and I think, this is a little all over the place. I looked at the footage. If I get bowled, the captain can’t feel sorry for me and call me back. Right? So, why would this rule allow the batters to be called back?” said AB de Villiers.

“Where I am going with this is, I want the ICC to bring it into the rule that you can’t call batters back. Make it a fair dismissal. There are too many grey areas. When you leave grey areas, it can be really sore on the eyes for the fans, and I find it really irritating and hurtful towards the game.

“My advice would be, take the rule away that you can’t call a batter back. If a bowler wants to run the batter out, take the dismissal off the rule book. If you are caught on the boundary, you are out. These are the rules of the game. You can’t say, ”ah, he is my friend, call him back’. I don’t see this as sportsmanship, I’m sorry. It’s a fair dismissal, it’s out. Walk off the field,” he added.

Meanwhile, New Zealand have won the three-match series by a margin of 2-0. After the first game was washed out, New Zealand won the second game by 86 runs before winning the third one by 7 wickets.