Ravichandran Ashwin posted a cheeky comment on the Gulbadin Naib incident.© Twitter
The T20 World Cup Super 8 match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh was much-loved, with Afghanistan creating history by entering the semi-finals for the first time. Afghanistan needed to beat Bangladesh to become the second team after India to reach the last four from Super 8 Group 1. The Rashid Khan-led side kept their composure in a rain-affected low-scoring match to knock both Bangladesh and Australia out of the semi-final race.
The match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh also saw a controversial moment when Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib allegedly feigned injury after coach Jonathan Trott signalled him to slow down. Afghanistan were leading on DLS at the time when the match was interrupted due to rain. Naib immediately fell to the ground. The act was criticised on social media and some accused Afghanistan of 'cheating'.
Commenting on the incident, India's star cricketer R Ashwin wrote on Twitter: “Red card for Gulbadin Naib.” To which the Afghanistan player replied: “In times of sadness, the hamstring comes out.”
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan attempted to downplay the incident.
Rashid Khan said, “Well, he had some cramps, I don't know what happened to him and I don't know what's going on in social media but it doesn't matter – it's just an end zone injury that comes and then we didn't lose any overs, the rain came and we just went on, it's not something that made a huge difference to the game.”
“We came back on the field five minutes later and there wasn't a big difference. For me, it's like if you get a small injury, you have to take some time off.”
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