Spirit of Cricket debate: Dravid says a player shouldn’t be blamed for acting within the laws of the game

Bengaluru:  Besides some brilliant performances with bat and ball, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 also saw a huge debate over the spirit of cricket, especially after the controversial ‘timed out’ dismissal during the Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka match.

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews was dismissed ‘timed out’ after an appeal by the Bangladesh cricket team, especially their captain Shakib Al Hasan. Mathews had reached the crease with a few seconds left for the two-minute deadline but could not take guard as the strap of his helmet was broken.

He was declared out by the umpires following an appeal by the Bangladesh team with the Sri Lankans hopping mad at the injustice and claiming that the strap of the helmet broke only after Angelo Mathews had reached the stumps.

Asked whether the spirit of cricket was breached over the dismissal, India coach Rahul Dravid said there was “no real right or wrong” in the various modes of dismissal if they follow the rules.

“Everyone thinks differently. We are all unique creatures and we have our own minds and our own thoughts. And the players will be the same,” Dravid said.

“Each one of us will think differently about a particular situation. And there is no real right and wrong. You can go and debate both. You can debate whether we have to stick to the rules as they are. Or you have to sometimes give a little leeway for a little bit of spirit of cricket. And there’ll be people on both sides of the camp.

“I think just understanding that it’s okay to have those differences is fine. It’s fine to have those differences and some people might agree or not agree with certain decisions that were taken.”

Dravid said that while people may not always agree, a player shouldn’t be blamed for acting within the laws of the game. “Others will say no it’s in the rules so I’m allowed to do it and that’s the way it is you know you can’t.

“When someone wants to take the letter of the rule of law to the last nth degree, I don’t think you can complain about it because honestly, he’s just following the rules as he sees it.

“I mean, you might not do it yourself. I mean, you know, we might not do it, but you can’t blame somebody for following it because you put that in place and you have to give scope for that level of understanding of somebody. Whether you choose to do it or not is completely your decision.”

–IANS