Gulbadin Naib's fake injury scandal left Mitchell Marsh 'in tears' as Australia faced early T20 World Cup exit

Australia's T20I captain Mitchell Marsh has shared his views on the recent fake injury scandal of Gulbadin Naib. The incident happened during the last Super 8 clash between Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The game was affected by several rain interruptions. During Bangladesh's innings, Gulbadin Naib, who was standing at first slip, suddenly went down on the ground clutching his hamstring as the bowler was getting ready to bowl. As a result, a few minutes were lost in the game.

Gulbadin seemingly knew that Afghanistan were ahead by 2 runs at that point and the rain was about to arrive. After a few moments, rain arrived but the situation became clear soon. Although Gulbadin's act didn't affect the result of the match, the incident has been up for debate in the cricketing circles.

Afghanistan's head coach Jonathan Trott was also observed asking his players to slow the game down. While a few cricket experts didn't like Gulbadin's act, others found a funny side to it.

The match was important not only for Afghanistan and Bangladesh but for Australia as well. If Bangladesh had chased down the target after 12.1 overs, Australia would have qualified for the semi-finals. But Afghanistan held its nerves in the end and scraped through for a memorable win to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time ever.

Also read: Taliban gets involved in T20 World Cup 2024 after Afghanistan's win; passes this message to Rashid Khan

Mitchell Marsh reacts to Gulbadin Naib's fake injury scandal

After the match, Australia spinner Adam Zampa termed it as a 'rainstring' injury. Meanwhile, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh has found a funny side to it and claims that he has never seen such a thing ever on a cricket field.

"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 said to cricket.com.au.

Later, Gulbadin Naib himself commented on his team's fast bowler Naveen'ul-Haq's social media post.

“Hey mate I am feeling not well … hamstring problem,” Gulbadin replied to the post along with a laughing emoji.

Gulbadin Naib's comment on Naveen Ul Haq's post. 😂 pic.twitter.com/xfLCBbPCzS

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 25, 2024

The Afghanistan allrounder also posted a story alongside team physio Prasanth Panchada with the caption, “Wonders can happen”.

Rashid Khan not happy with Gulbadin Naib

Meanwhile, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan was visibly displeased by Gulbadin's act. Later, Rashid was asked about the incident but he seemed to defend his players.

"He had some cramp. I don't know what happened to him and I don't know what's going on in social media but that doesn't matter," said Rashid.

Gulbadin also picked up a wicket in this match at a crucial stage. He is likely to play a vital role in Afghanistan's historic semi-final match against South Africa, to be played in Trinidad on June 27.