Such a high-octane clash is bound to raise the temperature, and the disappointment of the Afghanistan camp was understandable.
The drama unfolded during the semifinal fixture of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup between India A and Afghanistan A on the first delivery of the 15th over. Aaqib Khan bowled a fuller-length delivery on the leg-stump line, which Zubaid Akbari tried to hit the ball long but couldn’t get a connection.
The ball flew straight towards the wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh, who dived towards the ball and completed a catch. India A appealed, but the umpire didn’t raise his finger, and the fielders kept appealing.
While there was no review and ultra edge, the on-field umpire went upstairs, and after seeing multiple reviews, the big screen loaded OUT, but the batter wasn’t happy with the decision. He probably had problems with two things – firstly why did the umpire review the decision and secondly the replays weren’t conclusive enough to deem it out.
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He had a lengthy chat with the umpire, and the matter escalated, with coaches getting involved. The Afghanistan team’s coach wasn’t happy with the decision and asked his batter to stay on the crease and not return.
Soon, the Indian coaches also got involved, and both teams’ coaches had a lengthy discussion. The match referee soon arrived at the scene, talked with the Afghanistan coaching department and tried to bring things under control.
Meanwhile, the on-field umpires tried explaining to the batter that the final decision taken by the TV official couldn’t be reverted while also calming him down. The batter was rightly furious, for there was no review and ultra edge to come to any conclusion, but just because Indian players kept appealing, the umpire went upstairs.
Eventually, the batter had to walk back dejected after a lengthy altercation with the umpire, and the Afghanistan dressing room wasn’t pleased with the decision. Zubaid played a terrific knock of 64 runs in 41 balls, including five boundaries and four maximums, at a strike rate of 156.10 to provide a solid foundation for the batters to follow.
Prabhsimran took a fantastic catch, but the controversy took away his fine effort. Such a high-octane clash is bound to raise the temperature, and the disappointment of the Afghanistan camp was understandable.
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