Rawalpindi City Traffic Police (CTP) on Wednesday made good use of Sri Lankan batter Angelo Mathew’s ‘timed out’ dismissal against Bangladesh at the 2023 World Cup and issued a traffic awareness message of its own, warning motorcyclists that wearing a ‘quality helmet’ was mandatory.
The awareness message was etched on a picture of Mathews the moment he became the first player ever to be timed out in international cricket due to a helmet malfunction.
Mathews initially thought the standing umpire, Marais Erasmus, was joking. His expression changed very quickly when the square-leg umpire Richard Illingworth joined Erasmus to discuss the situation.
CTP’s little warning caught the attention of cricket fans on X. A user went two steps further and explained how any motorcyclist in a ‘timed out’ situation can easily get out of it with a 500 rupee note if the warden is anyone other than Bangladesh’s star all-rounder Shakib Ul Hasan.
CTP probably thought Shakib was a real traffic warden and asked the user to file a complaint.
Several dozen tweets followed suit, some applauding CTP for creativity while many casually called out a few people for having double standards.
One user reminded everyone that such posts aren’t ‘in good sportsman spirit’ of the game, while another suggested CTP hire a legal team if and when Mathews decides to sue.
Unlike Mathews who seemed visibly annoyed by the ‘timed out’ dismissal, cricket fans and entities like CTP on X are taking full advantage of the scene.
Mathews’ dismissal and the match result meant Bangladesh came away winners against Sri Lanka, winning by three wickets. The margin of victory means Bangladesh surpassed Sri Lanka on the points table on net run rate.
