"I was almost in tears laughing" - Mitchell Marsh on Gulbadin Naib's viral injury tactic during AFG vs BAN T20 World Cup clash
Australia T20I skipper Mitchell Marsh has downplayed the uproar that Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib triggered following his time-wasting tactics courtesy of an apparent injury. Naib collapsed to the ground holding his hamstring right after Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott's message to slow the game down as it started to drizzle.
At that point, Bangladesh were marginally behind the DLS par score. Afghanistan managed to shave off some crucial minutes as Naib required treatment, and in that time, the rain gathered strength and the players had to walk off the ground.
If no play was possible after that interruption, then Afghanistan would have been declared winners, with Naib's antics having a huge impact on the proceedings. If he was not 'injured', there would have been time for one more delivery to take place at least, which could have allowed Bangladesh to be ahead of the DLS par score.
Luckily, the controversial mode of play did not have any impact on the contest. The match resumed after a while and Afghanistan ended up winning by eight runs to qualify for the semi-finals and knock Australia out in the process.
Some of the Australian team members were not amused by Naib's exploits, with Adam Zampa even mocking the same by terming the charade as 'rainstring' on social media. However, Marsh saw the funny side, particularly because it did not have a say in 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 had lost to Afghanistan earlier in the Super 8, and their defeat to India made their complication quite tricky. The Aussies would have qualified for the semifinals if Bangladesh had chased down the score, but not under 12.1 overs.
"We were desperate to continue on in the tournament" - Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh
This marks the second consecutive edition that Australia have failed to make it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. They were eliminated in the Super 12 stage in the previous edition in 2022 on home soil.
"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 next assignment comes in the form of a white-ball tour of Scotland and England, followed by a home season where India and Pakistan will visit.