Mitchell Marsh, the captain of Australia’s T20I team, has minimized the controversy caused by Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib‘s time-wasting tactics, which appeared to stem from an injury. Naib went down clutching his hamstring immediately after Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott signalled to slow down the game due to drizzle.
At that moment, Bangladesh were slightly below the DLS par score. Afghanistan utilized the time during Naib’s treatment to reduce crucial minutes, and as the rain intensified, players were forced off the field.
If no further play occurred after this interruption, Afghanistan would have been declared the winner, significantly influenced by Naib’s actions. Without his ‘injury’, there would have been at least enough time for one more delivery, potentially allowing Bangladesh to surpass the DLS par score.
Fortunately, the contentious play did not affect the outcome of the match. Play resumed later, and Afghanistan secured an eight-run victory, advancing to the semi-finals and eliminating Australia in the process.
Some members of the Australian team were displeased with Naib’s actions, with Adam Zampa even jesting about it on social media, calling it a ‘rainstring’. However, Marsh found humour in the situation, especially since it did not impact the final result.
“I was almost in tears laughing and at the end of the day it had no bearing on the game. So we can laugh about it now – but gee it was funny. It was outstanding,” Marsh told cricket.com.au.
“We watched it as a group. It was obviously a pretty amazing game wasn’t it? A lot of twists and turns. Obviously you want to keep playing this tournament and that was our only way of doing it. But there’s also the element that it was completely out of our control and we only had ourselves to blame for that,” Marsh added.
Australia’s loss to Afghanistan in the Super 8 and their subsequent defeat to India complicated their chances significantly. Australia would have reached the semifinals if Bangladesh had chased down the target, but not within 12.1 overs.
“We were eager to progress further in the tournament”- Mitchell Marsh
This is the second consecutive T20 World Cup edition where Australia has missed out on reaching the semi-finals. They were knocked out in the Super 12 stage in the previous 2022 edition, which was held in their home country.
“We were all flat (when the final wicket fell). We were desperate to continue on in the tournament. But fair play to Afghanistan – they beat us and they beat Bangladesh and they deserve to be in the semi-finals,” Marsh added in the same interview.
Australia’s upcoming schedule includes a white-ball tour of Scotland and England, followed by a home season that will see visits from India and Pakistan.
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