Deepti Sharma, running Charlotte Dean in her stride has opened a pandora’s box of sorts. Every cricket fan, be it, players themselves or just casual followers, came up with their opinion on the ‘fair and legal form of dismissal.
While most were supportive of Sharma’s actions, many English cricketers and fans criticised the Indian bowler for her actions. Players like Stuart Broad, Sam Billings and James Anderson were the first to criticise Deepti Sharma
Many Indian subcontinent cricketers however were in support of the bowler and found nothing wrong in her actions. Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif has now come out and shared the same opinion of England players and called it a “terrible act”.
The 39-year-old took to Twitter and shared an image of the run-out with the caption, “We can see it clearly there is no intention of bowling the ball, she is looking towards non-striker batter to cheat him. This is a very unfair & terrible act worst spirit.”
We can see it clearly there is no intention of bowling the ball, she is looking towards non striker batter to cheat him.
This is very unfair & terrible act worst spirit ?#mankading #mankad #Cheater#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/SQCLYN3P7h— Muhammad Asif (@MuhammadAsif26_) September 24, 2022
As soon as the former Pakistan bowler posted this tweet he started to get trolled left right and centre. Most people reminded him of the spot-fixing scandal that had rocked Pakistan cricket in 2010.
For the unaware, the Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal occurred during Pakistan vs England Test match at Lord’s in 2010. The trio of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were convicted of taking bribes from bookmakers for deliberately bowling no balls at certain pre-arranged moments during the Test match.
The bookmaker’s chat with the players was videotaped by the news media News of the World and given to the police. What followed was a court hearing that found them guilty of the crimes. Mohammad Asif was given a jail sentence of one year on November 2011 and was also banned by the Apex Cricket Body for a minimum of five years.
Seeing a cricketer involved in match-fixing teach another about the spirit of the game, did not sit well with Twitter users and naturally they started to troll him.
Here are some reactions.
Stick to match fixing. That’s your expertise. Leave the spirit of cricket to ICC.
— Ravi Bhai ???? (@tracer_bullet1) September 25, 2022
Fixer talking about spirit …irony died 100 times ???
— ?????_b (@b_shorya) September 25, 2022
Mohammad Asif talking about "not cheating" is exactly like the Taliban banning Call of Duty for "promoting violence", https://t.co/tvDpkw5IkR
— Not Daniel Alexander (@_UnrealDaniel) September 25, 2022
Fixers shouldn't talk about spirit of the game.
— Suryakumar popa(#PKMKB) ?? (@SkyPopa63) September 25, 2022
A cricketer who betrayed his country for some money is talking like a gentleman ????. Mate are you alright
— Sayu (@the_cfcblues) September 25, 2022
When Asif speaks about cheating, listen. He knows it better than others ?
— Cow Corner (@CowCorner183) September 25, 2022
