New Delhi. Afghanistan’s Gulbuddin Naib ‘acted’ by injuring himself to waste time in the T20 World Cup and for which the ICC may even punish him, Ravichandran Ashwin feels it is right. This act of Gulbadin was criticized by most former cricketers and cricket fans. Gulbadin was trolled all day for his drama. But R Ashwin says Gulbadin’s dramatic performance on the field was justified as it was a ‘do or die’ match for his team.
Afghanistan’s Gulbuddin Naib was fielding in the slip area during Bangladesh’s batting. In the 12th over he suddenly grabbed his thigh and fell on his back. At the same time, TV screens showed Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott signaling his players to slow down the game. The coach made this gesture because it had started raining by then and Afghanistan would have won the match by 2 runs had the game stopped there. At that time, the Afghan team was leading by 2 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis rule.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, ‘Jonathan Trott was signaling from the dressing room to slow down the pace of the game. After this Naib fell to the ground like a broken branch of a tree. Everyone is saying that he will get punished for this. But what is the problem? He is playing for his country and trying to win a do-or-die World Cup qualifier.
According to the ICC Playing Rules, ‘a player may be banned for 2 matches for deliberate or repeated time wasting. In this case, the substitute can be saved due to the match referee’s first and last warning.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ashwin had posted on social media platform ‘X’, ‘Red card for Gulbuddin Naib.’ Naib replied to the Indian off-spinner on his social media handle, ‘Sometimes there is happiness, sometimes there is grief. Hamstring.’
The T20 World Cup has now reached the semi-final roundup. Both the semifinals of the tournament will be played on Thursday. Afghanistan will face South Africa in the first semi-final. Ashwin said that Afghanistan should try to survive against South Africa early on. This will make his work easier.
Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, T20 World Cup
First published: June 26, 2024, 17:17 IST