"Notice Me Please..." - Ravichandran Ashwin Calls For Gulbadin Naib To Get IPL Contract
Published - 18 Jan 2024, 05:40 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:22 AM
Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib played an unbeaten knock of 55 runs during the third T20I match against India. Afghanistan were set a target of 213 runs to win in Bengaluru, however, the wickets kept on tumbling in the middle overs which made the chase difficult after a solid start. Though, some lusty blows by Naib in the last overs, helped the Afghani team level the score and take the match to the super over.
Several famous Afghanistan players play in the Indian Premier League such as Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Nabi. Gulbadin Naib also entered the IPL auction in 2018 and 2019 but could not attract any buyers.
However, veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed an IPL contract for the Afghani all-rounder. Ashwin tweeted for the same on his official ???X??? handle and stated that he is a finisher from Asia with a base price of just INR 50 lakh and urged the buyers to notice his talent.
Ravichandran Ashwin backs IPL contract for Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib
Ravichandran Ashwin said, ???Gulbadin Naib says ???notice me please, will you????? I am a finisher from Asia with a base price of 50 L . Fantastic batting to get this game to a super over.???
Fantastic batting to get this game to a super over.
Afghanistan were given a target of 213 runs by India and a decent start by the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. Gurbaz and Zadran were dismissed for 50 runs each whereas Azmatullah Omarzai was removed for a duck by Washington Sundar. With wickets falling, Mohammad Nabi and Gulbadin Naib added 56 runs from 22 balls for the 4th wicket which was the joint fastest partnership for Afghanistan in T20Is.
While Nabi departed for 34 runs from 16 balls, Naib kept on hitting sixes and helped his team move the match to the super over.
India while batting first put up 212/4 courtesy of a 190* run partnership between captain Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh. Sharma slammed his 5th T20I century and became the first batsman on the planet to achieve the milestone. Rohit was unbeaten on 121 runs and smashed 11 fours and 8 sixes throughout his innings. Rinku was also unbeaten on 69 runs and hit 2 fours and 6 sixes.
However, India didn???t start well as they were reduced to 22/4 and top names such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube were back in the dressing room for low scores.
After the scores were tied, the match shifted to a super-over wherein batting first Afghanistan scored 16 runs in front of Mukesh Kumar. India were able to level the super-over as well and the match shifted to another super-over.
With India batting first in the second super over, they were able to score 11 runs and lost both their wickets on the first five balls. However, Afghanistan were not able to chase down 12 runs in the super over and India won the match to whitewash Afghanistan.
