Watch: Old hostilities between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are rekindled by Shoriful Islam’s “timed-out” celebration.

At the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are presently playing a thrilling three-match series. Bangladeshi bowler Shoriful Islam showed more in the first match he was playing than only his extraordinary bowling ability. This meeting was marked not only by a fierce on-field struggle but also by an unusual celebration that fueled the already smoldering rivalry.

When Shoriful Islam successfully dismissed Avishka Fernando, a batter from Sri Lanka, he restricted him to only four runs, which led to his moment in the spotlight. Litton Das touched the edge of the paceman’s superbly placed outside-off toss.

Reminiscent of the contentious ‘timed-out’ incident from the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Shoriful Islam celebration, though, stole the stage.

Cook ‘em Shoriful pic.twitter.com/x9gIq5aSAV

— Sujoy (@sujoyxx) March 4, 2024

The regrettable timed-out termination of Angelo Mathews

Regarding the 2023 ODI World Cup, hostilities between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka grew more intense when Angelo Mathews became the first player in cricket history to be timed out. As Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan persisted in his appeal, the event created a great deal of controversy and led to verbal clashes between the teams. Shoriful’s celebration appeared to be a stab at Mathews, rekindling the two sides’ intense verbal and emotional sparring.

Returning to the current game, Bangladeshi captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bowl, asking Sri Lanka to bat first. Though opener Avishka was removed cheaply to give Sri Lanka a rough start, the other batsmen showed off their skill, and the team amassed a sizeable lead.

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis, the wicketkeeper-batter and scorer, respectively, made noteworthy contributions. Sri Lanka reached 206 for three in their allotted 20 overs thanks to a spectacular 21-ball 44 spearheaded by captain Charith Asalanka, which included six massive sixes.

While taking one wicket apiece, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, and Shoriful Islam for Bangladesh were unable to stem the flow of runs, particularly as the Sri Lankan batting innings came to an end.