‘I Was in Tears’ Australia Skipper Mitchell Marsh Reacts at Gulbadin Naib’s FAKE injury
New Delhi: Afghanistan’s victory over Bangladesh in a crucial Super 8 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, which led to Australia’s exit, has sparked a lively debate about the ‘Spirit of Cricket’. The controversy was ignited by Gulbadin Naib’s dramatic mid-match fall, which appeared to stall for time as rain began to fall during the critical game.
Afghanistan’s historical eight-run win over Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup game on Monday sealed their maiden semifinal berth in the tournament, but sent Australia and Bangladesh home.
Australian cricket team captain Mitch Marsh has labelled the incident as “one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a cricket field.”
“I was almost in tears laughing and at the end of the day it had no bearing on the game,” Marsh was quoted as saying by cricket dot com. “So we can laugh about it now – but gee, it was funny. It was outstanding (from Gulbadin Naib).”
Bangladesh, chasing 115 in a rain-interrupted match, faced two stoppages due to inclement weather. At one point, they were ahead of the DLS par score but fell two runs behind in the 12th over as rain returned, reducing the target to 114 with an over cut. The controversy erupted shortly before the break when Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott was seen signaling his players to slow down the game to maintain their lead over the DLS par score. In a dramatic moment, Gulbadin Naib went down right at that time.
The Afghan players also joked about the incident afterwards on social media. Gulbadin Naib posted a photo with the team physiotherapist captioned “wonders can happen”.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan had downplayed the controversy, stating, “He had some cramp… that doesn’t matter.”