Gulbadin Naib Faces Criticism for Alleged Time-Wasting Injury, Captain Rashid Khan Defends Him

The last game of the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup witnessed a thrilling clash between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In this match, Afghanistan showcased amazing efforts and secured a place in the semifinals. The Afghan side performed exceptionally well. But a controversial moment of Gulabdin Naib caught the eyes in the second innings of the game. After the excellent win, Rashid Khan reflected on that.

The Controversial Moment og Gulbadin Naib:

After having an exciting group stage, Afghanistan and Bangladesh locked horns at the last match of the Super Eight stage. The match was crucial as their qualification scenario for the semifinal stage was depending on that. The match took dramatic turns as rain interrupted the game multiple times. But the drama touched another level because of a controversial move by Gulbadin Naib. 

As Noor Ahmad bowled the 12th over of the Bangladesh innings, rain began to intensify. The left-arm wrist spinner spun another wrong’un past Tanzim Sakib’s bat as the rain got heavier. Noticing this, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott approached the boundary and signaled frantically to the Afghan fielders, shouting “Slow down!” to manage the game’s pace since they were ahead by two runs according to the DLS par score.

Just as Noor was about to deliver the fifth ball of the over, Gulbadin at first slip suddenly clutched his hamstring and fell to the ground, causing a stoppage. This pause prompted the umpires to call for covers. Gulbadin was seen being assisted off the field by a couple of teammates, which was enough time for the umpires to halt the game.

Rashid Khan’s View:

The Afghanistan all-rounder faced harsh criticism from many, including commentators and cricketers who believed Gulbadin Naib fell to waste time as Afghanistan led Bangladesh in the DLS par score. However, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan defended Gulbadin, who has been accused of faking a hamstring injury to delay the game.

Rashid said, “It’s just the on-field injury that comes and then we haven’t lost any overs, the rain came and we just went off, it’s not something that brought a massive difference in the game. We came back on field after five minutes and there was no massive difference. For me, it’s just like a small injury comes in, then you have to take some time.”

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