India captain Rohit Sharma was involved in an intense chat with Afghanistan veteran Mohammad Nabi during the first Super Over of the 3rd T20I in Bengaluru on Wednesday. A throw from India wicket-keeper Sanju Samson hit Nabi’s pad from behind and resulted in a big deflection, with Afghanistan deciding to make the most of the opportunity by running two extra runs. Rohit, fuming at the ‘unsportsmanlike’ decision, argued with both Nabi and the umpire about the unfair advantage that the visiting team got. But, the runs continued to be counted.
Nabi, on his part, seemed to have put forth the point that he didn’t deliberately come in the line of the throw, and hence, he had the right to make the opportunity count.
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— Nihari Korma (@NihariVsKorma) January 18, 2024
Even Virat Kohli, who stopped the ball after the deflection, pointed at legs, signalling that Nabi shouldn’t have taken the additional double as the ball had hit him.
Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra suggested that the Men in Blue wasn’t right in arguing for that game of play in which the player ran two extra runs.
“A bye was taken off the last ball. Sanju Samson threw the ball, it hit Nabi’s leg and they ran two extra runs. One was available and India gave one because they were complaining about the spirit of the game. India were wrong in complaining. You could have restricted them to two runs and you conceded a third just like that,” he said on his YouTube channel.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further gave an example of a World Cup final to explain his statement.
“My question is, assuming had it been the last ball of a World Cup final and the extra run you were getting after the ball hit the pads was deciding the match, would anyone not run there? Would anyone be ready to lose the World Cup by not taking that run because it is ethically incorrect? Everyone would have run,” the former India opener explained.
The extra double didn’t cost the Indian team much as Rohit Sharma’s men won the contest in the second Super Over after the first one was tied.
