Rahul Dravid weighs in on 'Spirit of Cricket' discussion at CWC23

The conversation regarding the rights and wrongs of certain methods of dismissal grew louder when Sri Lanka batter Mathews was timed out by appeal against the Tigers earlier this week.

Explained: Why Angelo Mathews was dismissed before facing a ball

And, speaking ahead of his team’s final group-stage game at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, India coach Dravid says that he thinks there should always be room for both sides of the debate within cricket.

“Everyone thinks differently. We are all unique creatures and we have our own minds and our own thoughts. And the players will be the same,” Dravid said.

“Each one of us will think differently about a particular situation. And there is no real right and wrong. You can go and debate both.

“You can debate whether we have to stick to the rules as they are. Or you have to sometimes give a little leeway for a little bit of spirit of cricket. And there'll be people on both sides of the camp.

“I think just understanding that it's okay to have those differences is fine. It's fine to have those differences and some people might agree or not agree with certain decisions that were taken.”

Speaking after the match against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said he would always do what was needed to win a match for his team as long as it was within the rules.

And Dravid says that, while people may not always agree, a player shouldn’t be blamed for acting within the laws of the game.

“Others will say no it's in the rules so I'm allowed to do it and that's the way it is you know you can't.

“When someone wants to take the letter of the rule law to the last nth degree, I don't think you can complain about it because honestly, he's just following the rules as he sees it.

“I mean, you might not do it yourself. I mean, you know, we might not do it, but you can't blame somebody for following it because you put that in place and you have to give scope for that level of understanding of somebody.

“Whether you choose to do it or not is completely your decision.”

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 playing conditions pertaining to "timed out" dismissals reads thus:

40.1.1After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out.