Kolkata Police have assured citizens that a call to 100, their emergency helpline, will not be “timed-out” like Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews was at the Kotla on Monday.
In a Facebook post, the city police, known for posting topical and innovative memes, have now drawn from what is arguably the biggest controversy so far in this World Cup.
The meme, posted on Tuesday afternoon, comprises two pictures. One shows an animated Mathews exchanging a word with Shakib-Al Hasan, the Bangladesh skipper. The second shows Mathews pointing to his wrist after taking the wicket of Shakib.
“Wicket porte paare niyam er kheyal e. Time out hoy na 100-dial e,” the post reads. A rough translation: “The rules can cost a wicket. Dial 100, where there is no time-out”.
At the Kotla on Monday, Mathews became the first cricketer to be timed out in an international match.
Mathews, who arrived at the crease following the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama, was about to take the strike against Shakib when his helmet strap broke as he was tightening it.
He called for a replacement helmet, which was brought to him by Chamika Karunaratne. Shakib appeared to initiate a discussion with umpire Marais Erasmus following which Mathews was told he had been dismissed “timed out” since he was not ready to face his first ball within the two minutes of the previous dismissal as stipulated in the ICC playing conditions.
Mathews had an animated discussion with Shakib and the on-field umpires. But he was asked to leave the field.
Later, in the Bangladesh chase, Mathews took the wicket of a well-set Shakib and gave him a send-off by pointing towards his wrist and suggesting Shakib’s time was up. Bangladesh eventually won the match by three wickets but it was the Mathews dismissal that emerged as the talking point, sparking a debate on the spirit of the game.
By 6pm on Tuesday, the Kolkata police meme had garnered 2.4K likes and had been shared 181 times. “Perfect memes do exist...Kudos Kolkata Police,” read a comment.
Awareness campaigns by the city police have not been short on creativity.
In 2013, an advertising campaign on road safety rules, featuring the iconic 1969 Abbey Road album cover of The Beatles, became a runaway hit. Earlier this year, in May, a meme from the cops had linked the smash hit series Money Heist with a dramatic cricket spat between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir to alert people against online fraud.
“Our social media wing is behind the online campaign. It has police personnel as well as outsourced professionals. The content has to be approved by senior officers before being shared online,” an assistant commissioner at Lalbazar said.