“Didn’t Make A Difference”- Rashid Khan Defends Gulbadin Naib’s Difficult ‘Injury’ During AFG-BAN Battle

Rashid Khan, the captain of Afghanistan, entered the game to support his teammate Gulbadin Naib after the latter was controversially taken off the field during the team’s important Super 8 match against Bangladesh on June 25.

Afghanistan achieved their first-ever semi-final berth in an ICC senior men’s tournament after a valiant and exciting eight-run victory over Najmul Shanto’s Bangladesh using the DLS method. Only moments before rain cut short Bangladesh’s chase, the 33-year-old Naib pulled his hamstring and fell to the ground, causing controversy in the match as well.

Afghanistan, who had won the toss and chosen to bat first, got off to a dangerous start as their hitters failed to have any meaningful effect on Bangladesh’s bowling attack. Despite this, they managed to score a mere 115 runs.

However, their most significant victory of the tournament was secured thanks to some outstanding bowling from players like captain Rashid, who finished with a 4/23 period, and Naveen-ul-Haq, who had several winners.

Rashid Khan defends Gulbadin Naib’s controversial injury:

In a contentious moment during their June 25 match against Bangladesh, Gulbadin Naib went down on the ground and appeared to be hurt. Rashid Khan, the captain of Afghanistan, supported his colleague.

In the post-match press conference, Rashid stated that he thought Naib’s condition was just an average on-field injury in a cricket match and that it had no effect on the result of the match.

“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, the rain came, and we just went off (the field)” Rashid Khan said.

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