Gulbadin Naib is the Talk of the Town After AFG vs BAN

After Afghanistan’s victory against Bangladesh to qualify for the Semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024, Gulbadin Naib is in the spotlight.

Gulbadin Naib's batting was not so good in the contest against Bangladesh but his acting to fake injury during the final moments of the match did catch our attention!

Here’s what happened in the 52nd match of the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024!

Afghanistan Coach, Jonathan Trott signalled the team to slow down the momentum after taking the team. Doing so would help them using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern or DLS method.

Whatever the coach says, it must be set in stone.

Gulbadin Naib was standing at the first slip and fell immediately clutching his hamstring. Soon it started to rain, and Afghanistan won the match by 8 runs using the DLS method.

But Gulbadin recovered soon to celebrate the team winning and qualifying for the semi-finals.

Here are Some Reactions to the Incident

Mitchell Marsh, Australia's captain, spoke on the situation after the 2021 champions were eliminated from the competition.

"I was almost in tears laughing and at the end of the day it had no bearing on the game," said Marsh. "So we can laugh about it now – but gee it was funny. It was outstanding."

The commentary box erupted in amusement after viewing replays of Gulbadin's spectacular fall, and former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith mentioned the apparent injury when Naib took the wicket.

"I've had a dodgy knee for the last six months. I am gonna see Gulbadin Naib's doctor straight after the game. He's the 8th wonder of the world right now," he said.

Ashwin had cheekily reacted to the internet-breaking act, writing: "Red card for Gulbadin Naib," and the Afghanistan star later responded to it by saying: "Kabi Khusi kabi ghum main huta hai hamstring."

R Ashwin backing up Gulbain said-

"Gulbadin Naib fell that way. Everyone said that is penalizable offense. But what the hell, man? The guy is playing for his country, trying to win a World Cup, Qualify."

Rashid Khan also defended Gulbadin's contentious injury, suggesting that it didn't make much of a difference.

"Well, I think he had some cramp. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know what's going on social media. But that doesn't matter. It's just an on-field injury. We didn't lose any overs, rain came, and we just went off (the field). It's not something that made any massive difference in the game. We came back onto the field in 5 minutes, and there was no massive difference. For me, it was just an injury and needed some time," Rashid said.

Will Gulbadin Face Penalty?

Meanwhile, according to the ICC Code of Conduct, Gulbadin's time-wasting behavior might be classified as a Level One or Level Two infraction, for which the governing body could impose a heavy punishment of 100% of the match fees or two suspension points. It is now up to the on-field match officials to report the event as time wasted to the referee.

 

Also read - Afghanistan Defeats Bangladesh to Enter Semi-Finals for the First Time