Waqar Younis in legal crosshairs for criticizing Shakib’s ''timed-out'' appeal

KARACHI (Cricket Pakistan) - A High Court in Bangladesh has issued a ruling against the former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis.

This ruling came in response to critical remarks made by Waqar about Bangladesh cricket and their team captain, Shakib Al Hasan, during their recent World Cup match against Sri Lanka. 

In that match, Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews was controversially given a "timed out" dismissal, marking the first instance of this type of dismissal in the 146-year history of international cricket.

During the match, Shakib decided to appeal for a "timed-out" dismissal of Mathews. While the ICC regulations do include a provision for "timed out" dismissals, it had not been implemented in international cricket before this incident. Mathews requested a new helmet, and the process took more than two minutes to complete. Shakib, noticing the delay, informed the umpire, leading to Mathews being declared "timed out."

Both Waqar and former Sri Lankan cricketer Russel Arnold criticized Shakib's actions in the commentary box, characterizing the appeal as "unsportsmanlike behavior." Younis specifically directed his criticism towards Shakib, questioning his actions and expressing disapproval of Bangladesh's approach, citing that it went against the spirit of cricket. 

“I didn’t enjoy what I saw out there. That wasn’t good for the spirit of cricket. I am old school and I think that was a lot of drama to get Angelo Mathews out,” Waqar said during TV broadcast.

The ruling against Waqar instructed the Bangladesh Cricket Board to explain why they should not lodge a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have Waqar removed from the list of international commentators in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.

Furthermore, the court has given the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and its president a period of 10 days to provide a response to this ruling. The ruling was issued by a bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah after the initial hearing of a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Waliur Rahman Khan.