Waqar Younis faces potential legal consequences for his criticism of Shakib’s “timed-out” appeal

A Bangladeshi High Court has issued a ruling against former Pakistani cricketer Waqar Younis. This ruling stems from critical remarks made by Waqar regarding Bangladesh cricket and their team captain, Shakib Al Hasan, during a recent World Cup match against Sri Lanka.

In that particular match, there was a controversial “timed out” dismissal, marking the first occurrence of this kind in the 146-year history of international cricket. Shakib decided to appeal for a “timed out” dismissal of Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews. While ICC regulations do include provisions for “timed out” dismissals, this had never been implemented in international cricket prior to this incident. Mathews had requested a new helmet, and the process took more than two minutes to complete. Shakib, noticing the delay, informed the umpire, resulting in Mathews being declared “timed out.”

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

The court ruling against Waqar instructs the Bangladesh Cricket Board to clarify why they should not file a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have Waqar removed from the list of international commentators during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.

Furthermore, the court has granted the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and its president a 10-day period to respond to this ruling. The ruling was issued by a bench consisting of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah following the initial hearing of a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Waliur Rahman Khan.