Was Gulbadin Naib's hamstring injury act against the laws?

Gulbadin Naib has been making bold headlines for his antics of a fake hamstring injury sustained while fielding at slips during a crucial point in the Bangladesh.
 By Pratyusha Bhawar Jun 26, 2024, 11:34 IST
Gulbadin Naib (Source - X)?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4

Afghanistan star cricketer Gulbadin Naib has been making bold headlines for his antics of a fake hamstring injury sustained while fielding at slips during a crucial point in the Bangladesh match during the last game of the Super Eight Fixture of the T20 World Cup 2024, which took place on June 25. The match at St. Vincent on June 25 had come down to a narrow victory when the event occurred just before another rain interruption. In addition, Bangladesh were 2 runs behind their DLS score, at 81 for 7.

The players heard an instruction from Afghanistan's coach, Jonathan Trott, to slow down the game, and Naib immediately went down after damaging his hamstring. Following the same, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan would become more frustrated over this, questioning the all-rounder constantly about what happened. Naib was seen getting help off the pitch when the covers came on. 

However, in a surprising turn of events, the covers were taken off in just a few minutes. Gulbadin returned to the field, and he grabbed a crucial wicket before Naveen-ul-Haq got the last two wickets to help Afghanistan win thrillingly by eight runs.

Meanwhile, it now seems that Gulbadin's antics came under scrutiny on social media shortly following the victory, especially when the all-round star was shown relishing Afghanistan's first-ever ICC tournament semifinal berth by running around insanely. 

Also Read: 'Bye Bye Australia' - Social Media reacts to Afghanistan's magnificent win over Bangladesh

Here is the full incident:


What does ICC Laws and Code of Conduct say about time-wasting?

"If either umpire considers that the progress of an over is unnecessarily slow, or time is being wasted in any other way, by the captain of the fielding side or by any other fielder, at the first intance the umpire concerned shall: If the ball is in play, call and signal Dead ball. Inform the other umpire of what has occurred. The bowler's end umpire shall then warn the captain of the fielding side, indicating that this is a first and final warning. Inform the batters of what has occurred."

Therefore, in a scenario in which the allegations against Gulbadin Naib turned out to be precise, the on-field umpires' only choice was to fine Afghanistan five runs, but that was not a possibility at that moment in the game. However, Gulbadin's wastage of time may have violated the ICC Code of Conduct, for which the International Cricket Council may impose two penalty points or a severe penalty equivalent to 100% of the match fees. Notably, it is up to the on-field match officials to bring up the incident with the match referee as a time waste.

Also Read: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma involved in animated conversation during Bangladesh game

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