25 June 2024 Punjab Khabarnama : Gulbadin Naib delivered an ‘Oscar-worthy’ acting performance, as the commentators put it, during his team’s crunch T20 World Cup Super Eight tie against Bangladesh in Kingstown on Tuesday. With a place in the semi-final on the line, Afghanistan had Bangladesh reeling on 81/7 in a chase of 116 when rain intervened for a third time in the contest. At that moment, Bangladesh were two runs behind as per the DLS system, and understanding the magnanimity of the situation, head coach Jonathan Trott urged his players to slow things down.
As Trott used his hand gestures to convey his message, Gulbadin, who was fielding at first slips in the 12th over, suddenly held his left thigh and collapsed, indicating cramps. The surprising turn of events left the commentator, especially Simon Doull, miffed as he ensured his disappointment was heard. He even said ‘it has the potential to be either an Emmy or Oscar-worthy performance’.
“Oh no no no, sorry. You can’t have this. I’m not accepting that. Even Rashid (Khan) doesn’t like it. It’s just delay tactics. I get it but I don’t like that at all. It is unacceptable. They might have gone off anyway for the rain but that’s not a good look. I know the Euros are going on in football, you’d be better off there,” he said as a visual of Gulbadin lying face down flashed on the screen. Captain Rashid Khan himself was taken by surprise, as he nearly urged Gulbadin to get back up on his feet and carry on, believing that his teammate was probably feigning it to force a momentary break.
However, after the incident was replayed, the emotions of the commentary panel changed as they could be heard bursting into a laugh riot on live TV upon seeing Gulbadin go down in slow motion. It was even funnier to see Gulbadin acknowledge Trott’s message with one hand while using the other to favour his left hamstring as he went down in ‘pain’.
Was the injury legit?
And Rashid was probably right. Even as Gulbadin looked in excruciating pain and was helped off the field by Naveen-ul-Haq and a member of the Afghanistan support staff, he was miraculously back up and running shortly play resumed. As Naib sat in the dugout to receive treatment, Najibullah Zadran came in as a substitute, but he returned in the next over – 13th of the innings – and picked up the wicket of Tanzim Hasan Sakib to put the mystery of his cramps beyond doubt.
What’s worse? Gulbadin absolutely sprinted down the ground when Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 8 runs on DLS to enter their first-ever knockouts of an ICC tournament. During the post-match presentation, when Rashid was asked about Gulbadin’s ‘injury’, the Afghanistan captain played along. “Gulbadin had some cramps I think, hopefully he’ll be alright. That wicket he took was massive for us,” he said.
