Confusion between Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in AFG vs BAN.© X (Twitter)
Afghanistan’s historic 2024 T20 World Cup win over Bangladesh, that helped them achieve their first-ever semi-finals, was not without its funny moments. Afghanistan put up a total of only 115 in 20 overs, which included openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran playing at a strike rate of under 100. Their struggles translated into their running between the wickets, and brought about a moment where both batters were hilariously running in the same direction. The video of the comical moment went viral on social media.
In the incident, Gurbaz had played a shot towards point, and initiated a run before signalling partner Zadran to go back. Zadran had missed the signal, and for a while, both Zadran and Gurbaz were running towards the striker’s crease. After Bangladesh overthrew, Zadran realized that he was on the same end as Gurbaz. Hilariously, Gurbaz also realized that Zadran was on his end, and started dashing towards the non-striker’s crease.
Ultimately, the two managed to complete a single despite all the confusion.
The comedy of errors was not just on the side of Afghanistan, however, as Bangladesh’s poor fielding meant that they could not take advantage of the mix-up.
The misfields would come back to bite Bangladesh, who failed to get over the line. Despite chasing only 114 after the game had been shortened to 19 overs due to rain, Bangladesh fell short by 8 runs.
The game, which saw rain interruptions on four separate occasions, saw a dramatic end as Afghanistan clinched victory and erupted into celebration.
The comical running between the wickets wasn’t the only video of Afghanistan’s that went viral on X. Another video showed Jonathan Trott instructing his players to slow the game down, after which Gulbadin Naib appeared to be injured.
Afghanistan will take on South Africa in the semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup on June 27. The winner will face either India or England on June 29.
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