T20 World Cup: Gulbadin Naib's hilarious reaction to feigning injury during AFG vs BAN match

Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib has reacted for the first time after he feigned a hamstring injury during the Super 8 match against Bangladesh on Monday (Jun 24) to help his team qualify for the semifinals.

With rain teeming down at the Arnos Vale Ground inKingstown when Bangladesh were chasing the 116-run target,Naib faked the injury to ensure Afghanistan remained in front in the Duckworth-Lewis Stern (DLS) calculations.

After Gulbadin's antics, Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin took to X (formerly Twitter) and reacted to the incident by hilariously calling for a 'red card' for the Afghan pacer. A red card is often dished out in football when a player engages in a simulation and is ordered by the referee to walk out of the pitch.

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A sporting Gulbadin reposted Ashwin's reaction and quoted a Bollywood movie reference, much to the delight of the subcontinent audience.

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The incident transpired in the 12th over of the match after Afghanistan head coach, Jonathan Trott, standing on the sidelines, instructed the team to slow down the play. At the time, Bangladesh were two runs behind the DLS score - meaning Afghanistan would have won the match if no play was possible from thereon. However, after a brief interruption, thematch got underway and was eventually completed, resulting in a historic Afghanistan victory.

"The coach sends a message out to say Slow it down, slow it down, and the first slip just dives on the ground needlessly. That is unacceptable. Gone off anyway. I get that might have gone off anyway for the rain," commentator Simon Doullsaid on air dissecting the incident.

Quizzed after the match about Gulbadin's faux-injury, captain Rashid Khan said he didn't know what happened to his player.

"Well, I think he had some cramp. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know what's going on, 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)," said Rashid.

"It's not something that made any massive difference in the game. We came back on to the field in 5 minutes, and there was no massive difference. For me, it was just an injury and needed some time," Rashid added.

Gulbadin's action divided the internet with a section lauding him for doing everything to help his nation win while others criticised him for maligning the spirit of cricket.

(With inputs from agencies)