Afghanistan player Rashid Khan on Tuesday bowled the most expensive bowling speel in the history of One Day International matches after he conceded 110 runs in nine overs against England at Old Trafford. England went on to defeat Afghanistan by smashing several world records. Meanwhile, several England cricketers have rallied behind Rashid after the Iceland Cricket and Chennai Super Kings took potshots at the Afghan cricketer’s bad day in the field.
Reacting to Rashid’s most expensive bowling spell, the Iceland Cricket tweeted, “We’ve just heard that Rashid Khan has scored Afghanistan’s first century of the #CWC19! Wow! 110 from 56 balls. The most runs ever scored by a bowler in the World Cup or something. Well batted young man.”
Its attempt to mock a star cricketer did not go down well with several past and present English players. England cricketer Luke Wright slammed the Iceland Cricket as he wrote, “Rubbish tweet. Rather than trying to be funny why not be respectful to someone that has done so much for cricket and especially associate members.”
Rubbish tweet. Rather than trying to be funny why not be respectful to someone that has done so much for cricket and especially associate members ? https://t.co/0z3F8KiS82
— Luke Wright (@lukewright204) June 18, 2019
Former England cricketer Stuart Broad too jumped in as he tweeted, “He is a world class bowler & a delight to watch. Everyone has bad days in our sport.”
He is a world class bowler & a delight to watch. Everyone has bad days in our sport
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) June 18, 2019
Also mocking Rashid Khan’s poor spell was India’s IPL team Chennai Super Kings. It tweeted from its official handle, “That 54-ball-110 would have been painful though! ”
That 54-ball-110 would have been painful though! ?
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) June 18, 2019
Chennai Super Kings was reacting to a congratulatory tweet by its rival in the IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad, for England’s Jonny Bairstow, who also plays for the Hyderabad team in the IPL. Hyderabad Sunrisers wrote, “With a 99-ball 90, @jbairstow21 was so close to his maiden World Cup century! A brilliant knock nevertheless!”
With a 99-ball 90, @jbairstow21 was so close to his maiden World Cup century!
A brilliant knock nevertheless! ?#ENGvAFG #CWC19 #OrangeArmy #RiseWithUs pic.twitter.com/jUDIA35rPt
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) June 18, 2019
Many Twitterati found the tweet by Chennai Super Kings mocking a cricketer in poor taste. The team from Chennai began to face mounting criticism with many reminding it of facing a two-year ban by the Indian cricket board for illegal betting and match-fixing. In July 2015, the RM Lodha committee had suspended India Cements and Jaipur IPL for a period of two years. These were two of the league’s biggest owners with India Cements running Chennai Super Kings and Jaipur IPL in charge of Rajasthan Royals.