Will ICC punish Gulbadin Naib? Afghanistan player under fire for 'faking injury' during T20 World Cup match against Bangladesh

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• 5 min read

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The Group 1 clash of the Super 8 stage at the T20 World Cup 2024 between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, witnessed a controversial incident when Gulbadin Naib, clutched his legs, complaining of cramps, to delay the game.

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott had instructed the players on the field to slow down the game as Bangladesh were 2 runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) score when it started to rain during the 12th over, at Kingstown.

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Naib, who was fielding at slips, took the instruction all too seriously and fell to the ground by "faking" an injury. The commentator, Simon Doull, complained that it was against the "Spirit of the Game" for a cricketer to adopt such tactics.

In light of the controversy, fans and former cricketers have been going back and forth on social media, on whether Naib should be penalized for attempting to delay the game.

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This issue has in particular been raised by the Australian media and their players including leg spinner, Adam Zampa, as Australia were knocked out following Afghanistan's win in this match.

The “rainstring” according to Adam Zampa 😂#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/OymS7uUoPV
— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) June 25, 2024

Will the ICC punish Gulbadin Naib for 'faking injury' against Bangladesh?

ICC's Code of Conduct deems 'time-wasting' a level 1 or 2 offense under Article 2.10.7. If such an offense is committed by a player, they are to be punished with a 100% match-fee fine and two suspension points. If a player receives four suspension points in a year, he/she can be banned for either one Test match or two ODIs or T20Is.

Moreover, according to Article 41.9 of the ICC's playing conditions for T20Is, a bowler or a fielder's time-wasting tactic is liable to be punished with a five-run penalty. The umpire has the authority to do so, but no such action was taken during the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh T20 World Cup match.

According to the law: "If the umpires believe that the act of time wasting was deliberate or repetitive, they may lodge a report under the ICC Code of Conduct. In such circumstances the captain and/or any individual members of the fielding team responsible for the time wasting will be charged."

Therefore, Gulbadin Naib and captain Rashid Khan can technically risk facing the punishments. However, there has been no indications thus far from either the match officials or ICC if they will be opening an investigation against Naib, since it is difficult to come to a definitive conclusion on whether it was time-wasting or if he indeed suffered cramps.

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How did Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan react to the 'fake injury' controversy?

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan spoke about the incident during the post-match presentation ceremony, where he tried to play down the controversy.

"Well, 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 - it's just the fielding injury which comes in the end but then we haven't lost any overs, the rain came, and we just went off, it's not something like brought a massive difference in the game.

"We came back on field after five minutes and there was no massive difference. For me, it's just like a small injury comes in, then you have to take some time," Rashid said

On the other hand, Naib took to social media platform X as he quoted a tweet from Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin about the incident, saying: "It happens sometimes when you are happy or when you are sad. Hamstring,"