Qais Ahmed and Gulbadin Naib (Image credit: Agencies)
NEW DELHI: Qais Ahmed grabbed attention in the closing stages of the one-off Test between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi. The Afghanistan batter's injury moment reminded fans of Gulbadin Naib's incident during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan put up a determined batting effort to secure a draw at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The hosts batted for 142 overs to avoid defeat against their Asian rivals.Qais played an important role in ensuring that the efforts of Afghanistan's batters, especially Sediqullah Atal, did not go in vain. Batting at number nine, he remained unbeaten on 49 off 80 balls and helped his team survive the final stages of the match.
Qais Ahmed's injury moment in the final overs
With just 10 minutes left in the match, Qais blocked a delivery from Taijul Islam in the third-last over before going down while holding his left hamstring.The moment caught the attention of social media users, while Bangladesh players appeared pleased with the situation.The incident reminded fans of Naib's injury moment against Bangladesh during the 2024 T20 World Cup. Afghanistan won that match to reach the semi-finals of an ICC tournament for the first time.
Qais made another important contribution in the final over, hitting two sixes as Afghanistan and Bangladesh settled for a draw.
Sediqullah Atal scores maiden Test century
Atal played a key role in Afghanistan's effort to save the Test. He scored 111 off 333 balls to register the first Test century of his career. He also became the first Afghanistan batter to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match.Captain Rahmat Shah also had a memorable game. In his first Test as captain, he scored 105 in the first innings and followed it up with 51 in the second.
Rahmat became only the sixth male cricketer to score a century and a half-century on his Test captaincy debut.
Gulbadin Naib's injury incident at T20 World Cup 2024
Afghanistan created history at the 2024 T20 World Cup by beating Bangladesh to reach the semi-finals of an ICC tournament for the first time. However, the match also drew attention because of an incident involving Naib.
During the 12th over of Bangladesh's innings, Naib went down holding his hamstring shortly after head coach Jonathan Trott was seen signalling to the players to slow the game down.
At that stage, Afghanistan were two runs ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, with the match finely balanced.Naib's injury led to the physios coming onto the field. Play was then stopped as rain interrupted the match. When the teams returned after a short break, Naib appeared to be moving comfortably. This led to criticism from some fans and experts, who questioned the timing of the incident and suggested it may have helped Afghanistan.Afghanistan eventually defeated Najmul Hossain Shanto's Bangladesh by eight runs under the DLS method. The result also knocked Australia out of the race for a semi-final spot.