The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) witnessed a heartwarming moment on the field as Mehidy Hasan, the captain of Khulna Tigers, had a special gesture for Chittagong King’s Tom O’Connell at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. The incident received widespread appreciation in the cricketing community.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz shows true sportsmanship
The incident happened as Khulna Tigers were playing against Chittagong Kings and the latter were chasing down a total of 204 runs. Haider Ali was dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz which gave way for the arrival of the Australian batter O’Connell on the crease. But his arrival took longer than anticipated. Puzzled and frustrated at wasting time, Hasan appealed for a time-out dismissal to O’Connell. The field umpire gave the decision in favour of the Tigers but upon re-visiting his decision, the Tigers’ skipper Hasan decided to withdraw his appeal. O’Connell had already returned to the pavilion and was called back on the crease to bat for the Kings.
However, O’Connell failed to take advantage of a grace opportunity from Tigers as the Australian batter was dismissed on a golden duck by Mohammad Nawaz who gave a stellar performance for his team with the bowl. The incident revealed the true sportsperson spirit of Hasan. Had the Tigers skipper not withdrawn his appeal, O’Connell would’ve been the first batter in BPL history to have been dismissed in this manner.
The only other incident of this sort in international cricket was when Angelo Matthews was sent back to the pavilion during ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 in a match against Bangladesh when skipper Shakib Al-Hasan enforced the decision against the Sri Lankan batter.
Here’s the video:
Timeout drama in #BPL! 😵
Skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz sportingly called Tom O’Connell back after he was timed out by the umpires! 🤝#BPLonFanCode pic.twitter.com/0bEIDBfRYj
— FanCode (@FanCode) December 31, 2024
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Khulna Tigers dominated Chittagong Kings to win their first match in BPL 2024-25
Khulna Tigers had put a mammoth total on board for Chittagong Kings to chase. Will Bosisto’s unbeaten 75-run knock was the highlight of the Tigers’ batting effort. Contributions from Mahidul Islam Ankon and Mohammad Naim played a crucial role for the home side to put 203 runs on-board.
In response, Chittagong King’s effort with the bat was disappointing. Shamim Hossain tried to stabilise the Kings run-chase with a courageous 78-run knock but continuous fall of wickets from the other end and a huge total from Tigers proved out to be too much for the middle-order batter. In the end, Kings were bowled out for 166 in 18.5 overs. Thus, Tigers won the match by 37 runs.