Kingstown: Gulbadin Naib dramatically falling on his back, clutching his thigh after Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott signalled his players to slow things down in the T20 World Cup match against Bangladesh caused both amusement and annoyance as former players questioned the genuineness of his discomfort.
Naib, who was fielding in the slip cordon, complained of cramps during the 12th over bowled by spinner Noor Ahmad, after Trott was seen on camera asking his players to slow down as Bangladesh had fallen behind on the Duckworth-Lewis par score in the rain-hit Super 8 clash.
The match saw frequent rain interruptions and Bangladesh, at that stage, were 81 for 7, two runs behind on the DLS par score in a revised chase of 114 in 19 overs. Afghans eventually prevailed by eight runs to enter their maiden World Cup semifinal.
“The coach sends a message out to say slow it down, slow it down and the first slip just dives on the ground needlessly. That is unacceptable. Gone off anyway. I get that might have gone off anyway for the rain,” said Simon Doull while commentating.
Zimbabwean commentator Pommie Mbangwa quipped: “Oscar, Emmy?”.
Naib was given treatment and was taken off the field by teammate Naveen-ul-Haq and a support staff as it started raining again and players ran to the dugout.
When play resumed after a shot delay, the target for Bangladesh was revised.
Naib was soon back on the field in the 13th over with Najibullah Zadran substituting him briefly. The all-rounder also rolled his arms over and dismissed Tanzim Hasan in the 15th over to reduce Bangladesh to 92 for 8.
Social media was also abuzz with players and fans reacting to the incident.
“Red card for Gulbadin Naib,” tweeted India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in ‘X’.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan wrote: “Spirit of cricket is alive & kicking… Great to see Gulbadin become the first cricketer in the history of the game to get a wicket 25 mins after being shot…”
Former New Zealand cricketer and commentator Ian Smith said: “I’ve a dodgy knee for the last 6 months, I am gonna see Gulbadin Naib’s doctor straight after the game. He’s the 8th wonder of the world right now.”
