The Bangladesh Premier League witnessed a 'Timed out' drama when Chittagong Kings' Australian batter Tom O'Connell was given out but later called back by Khulna Tigers captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who had initially appealed.
The incident occurred in the second innings of the third match of the 11th edition of the tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
During the seventh over bowled by Pakistani spinner Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali was given lbw in the first ball. The next batter, O’Connell, took a while to step up while the Khulna fielders and Chittagong batter Shamim Hossain waited.
But before he even reached the crease, O’Connell was given out by on field umpire Tanvir Ahmed. The Australian started to walk off but soon returned after he was called back.
Later, Chittagong captain Mohammad Mithun hailed Mehidy for the gesture.
‘Miraz showed a big heart,’ said Mithun in the post-match press conference. ‘We must give him credit for that.’
‘On the other hand, the batters must always be ready; this shouldn’t have happened in a T20 match. Maybe he didn’t understand that the wickets would fall so quickly. He was relaxed to get ready. That’s why he was late. But personally I felt that Miraz did a fantastic job,’ added Mithun.
O’Connell could’ve been the only second batter in the recognised T20s to be dismissed in this fashion.
There have been only two incidents of a batter being ‘Timed out’ in international cricket.
Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka became the first victim of time out against Bangladesh in the 2023 ODI World Cup which later caused much controversy.
Later, Godfred Bakiweyem of Ghana was ‘Time out’ against Sierra Leone in a T20I in Benoni last year.
According to clause 40.1.1 of the standard 20-over playing condition, ‘After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 1 minute 30 seconds of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out.’
O’Connell, though, couldn’t score a run as he was caught on the very first ball he faced. Chittagong fell short by 37 runs while chasing 203.
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