Nepal wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh’s recent gesture of not running out Ireland's Andy McBrine after the batter fell while trying to take a single has won the hearts on internet. (More Cricket News)
It was the 6th match of Oman Quadrangular T20 Series in which Nepal and Ireland were facing each other at Al Amerat on February 14. Nepal won the toss and elected to field first. Losing wickets in regular intervals saw Ireland reaching 113/8 after the end of 18 overs.
Ireland needed some quick runs off the final 12 balls. But something above from cricket happened on the ground, a moment that touched the heart of everyone witnessing it.
Kamal Singh Airee, who was bowling the 19th over, pitched the ball up on his third delivery to batter Mark Adair, who failed to connect to it properly. The mishit went on to the right of Kamal. He quickly ran towards the ball but collided with McBrine before collecting the ball and throwing it right in the hands of wicketkeeper Aasif.
Given that the collision saw McBrine falling on the pitch, the batter failed to get to the next end in time. However, to everyone’s surprise Aasif refused to take the bails off at the other end despite McBrine being well short of his crease.
It all happened in quick time but Aasif’s heart-warming gesture promoting ‘Spirit of Cricket’ was later circulated on social media and the video in no time went viral. Even the International Cricket Council (ICC) couldn’t keep itself away from praising Aasif and sharing the video on social media.
Watch it here:
Ireland eventually defeated Nepal by 16 runs in the game with latter's Dipendra Singh Airee bagging the Player of the Match award for his 4/21 alongside 28 off 30 balls.
