After Afghanistan’s low-margin but historic win against Bangladesh that landed the side into T20 World Cup semi-final, Afghan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib’s wicket after a hamstring injury during the match raised eyebrows in the cricketing fraternity.
Rashid Khan-led side faced criticism over delaying tactics as the crucial game was paused for a while when Naib fell on the ground appealing a hamstring pain during the second innings, but some accused him of faking the injury.
The controversial mid-game act by the Afghan underwent scrutiny because it came right after their head coach Jonathan Trott made a gesture to slow down the game.
The criticism was mainly from cricketers from Australia, who were dropped out of the semis race, following Afghanistan’s victory against the Tigers in the Super 8 encounter.
Naib appeared to have pulled his hamstring but Aussie spinner Adam Zampa stated that it was the “old rainstring”.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan also took a cheeky dig at Gulbadin and congratulating him on becoming the first bowler to take a wicket after being shot.
“Great to see Gulbadin become the first cricketer in the history of the game to get a wicket 25 mins after being shot…,” Vaughan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, India’s Ashwin jokingly called for a “red card” for Naib but the Afghan all-rounder came up with a quirky reply for that as well.
“It happens sometimes when you are happy or when you are sad. Hamstring,” Naib wrote on X, dotted with laughing emojis.
Earlier, Afghanistan skipper Rashid was also asked by Simon Doull about Gulbadin’s apparent cramp which he played down saying hopefully he will be alright for the semi-final.
“Gulbadin had some cramp, I think. Hopefully, he will be alright. But that wicket that he gave us was a massive one at that stage,” Rashid said after the match.
During Bangladesh’s innings in the twelfth over, Afghanistan had a narrow two-run lead under the DLS system when rain started to pour.
Taking advantage of the rain, Trott gestured towards his player and asked him to get down on the field so the umpires would stop the play.
The play stopped and no bowl was bowled then. If the play had remained stopped, Afghanistan would’ve cruised to the semi-final as they were ahead on the DLS system.
However, the rain passed quickly and the play resumed and Afghanistan managed to win the match, bowling out the entire Bangladesh team for 105 runs.
After the match resumption, Gulbadin even took a wicket and was seen running in the field to celebrate.
The match wasn’t decided by Gulbadin’s actions but that sure made the headlines because the Aussies weren’t happy with it.
The T20 World Cup 2024 is now reaching its climax as from 20 teams at the start, it has come down to the last four who will be competing in the semi-finals on June 27 in the West Indies.
