In the World Cup clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium, India asserted their dominance over Afghanistan. After an early collapse that left Afghanistan struggling at 63/3, the incumbent batsman Rahmat Shah and incoming captain Hashmatullah Shahidi attempted to steady the ship.
However, they found it challenging to consistently score runs against the formidable spin pairing of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. Just as the pressure was mounting, a rare lapse in concentration from Rohit Sharma’s team in the 22nd over allowed Afghanistan to break a 53-ball boundary drought.
The breakthrough came when Jadeja bowled a delivery outside off-stump to Shahidi, who was batting at 16 off 27 deliveries and hadn’t managed a boundary until then. In an uncharacteristic move, Shahidi went down on one knee and played a sweeping shot, resulting in a thick top-edge that raced to the boundary.
His reaction immediately clarified his intention. Shahidi hurriedly approached the umpire, signaling that the Indian team had only four fielders within the inner circle, which was less than the required minimum of five during overs 10 to 40.
The umpire duly ruled the delivery a no-ball, a call that the Afghan captain had anticipated even before the delivery. This decision granted him two free hits. Cricket enthusiasts on social media applauded Shahidi’s cricketing intelligence and lauded his quick thinking.
