Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka has quickly overtaken India vs Pakistan as the most intense on-the-field rivalry in cricket. After sealing the BAN vs SL ODI series 2-1, the Bangladesh cricket team, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, pulled out the ‘timed-out’ celebration to mock Angelo Mathews and the Sri Lankan team.
The architects of the celebration were skipper Shanto and senior member Mushfiqur Rahim, who enacted the infamous timed-out incident in the ODI World Cup 2023 last year.
The celebration was in response to the Sri Lanka cricket team, who enacted a timed-out celebration after their T20I series win over Bangladesh on March 9. After clinching the 3-match T20 series, 2-1, the entire Sri Lankan team decided to pose with their hands on their watch, indicating the win as revenge for the Angelo Mathews timed-out indecent last year.
The rivalry between the two Asian sides isn’t new. However, the start of the intense on-field competition can be attributed to their clash in the Nidahas Trophy in 2018. After a loss at home, the Sri Lankan team got into a fight with Bangladeshi players.
Such was the extent that Sri Lankan fans flocked in huge numbers to support India in the subsequent final clash and celebrated as though their team had won when India beat Bangladesh.
