Gulbadin Naib reacts to Ashwin's red card tweet over ‘faking injury’
- By Web Desk -
- Jun 25, 2024
While Afghanistan made history to reach the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 after winning their Super 8 fixture against Bangladesh, Gulbadin Naib grabbed attention for all the wrong reasons.
The Afghan player took social media by storm after he was accused of faking a hamstring injury during their must-win game against Bangladesh in St Vincent on June 25.
With Afghanistan ahead by 2 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method when the third rain interruption threatened to stop play, Naib, fielding at first slip, suddenly clutched his hamstring and went down, sparking outrage among commentators and fans alike.
The “dramatic” incident occurred as light drizzle started at the Arnos Vale Ground, and Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott was seen instructing his players to “slow down the game”, aware that a rain delay would put Afghanistan on course to reach the semi-finals.
India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was among those who commented on Naib’s injury.
“Red-card for Gulbadin,” Ashwin wrote in post on X followed by three laughing emojis.
Reacting to the comment, the Afghan player gave a Bollywood movie reference to it in a hilarious way.
Read more: ‘Oscar winning performance’: Gulbadin Naib accused of ‘faking injury’
“Kabi khushi kabi gham main huta hai Hamstring,” he wrote while re-tweeting Ravichandran Ashwin’s post.
However, Naib’s actions on the field were met with widespread criticism, with commentator Simon Doull blasting the Afghan all-rounder for his “cheap trick”.
“I do get what the coach was trying to say and sending a message but this is unacceptable delaying tactics,” Doull said on air.
Even Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan was left unimpressed with Gulbadin Naib’s tactics.
The incident sparked a heated debate on social media, with many calling out Naib’s actions as unsportsmanlike and unacceptable.
Replays clearly showed that Naib had deliberately gone down, and despite being carried off the field by Ibrahim Zadran, he was back on his feet and running once the game resumed.