Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib is still hogging the limelight for faking a hamstring injury during his team’s last Super 8 match against Bangladesh. Rashid Khan’s team won the game by 8 runs and made it to the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The veteran India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the ongoing controversy.
During the 12th over of the Bangladesh chase, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott urged his players to slow down as his team was just two runs head-on the DLS score, and it started raining. To make sure that Afghanistan didn’t fall behind, Naib fell on the ground without any injury concerns to delay the game. The umpires had no choice but to call for treatment, and players were told to leave the ground as the downpour became heavy.
“Red card for Gulbadin Naib,” R Ashwin wrote.
“Kabi Khusi kabi ghum main huta hai hamstring,” the Afghanistan star responded.
The criticism started when Gulbadin took the field after the rain stopped and even bowled an over. He was also seen running in the field after Afghanistan reached the semis for the first time in an ICC tournament.
However, Aswhin defended the all-rounder. “He fell to the ground, and everyone said that he should be punished. What the hell? He is playing for his country and trying to win a World Cup,” he said.
Ashwin also lauded Afghanistan. “The players are playing for each other. They want to win the tournament. Don’t Indian players play for one another? At this stage, Afghanistan is playing for one another like I have never seen anything like this,’ he said.
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