Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja is currently serving as a mentor of the Afghanistan team in the ODI World Cup 2023.
New Delhi: Afghanistan’s mentor for the ODI World Cup 2023, Ajay Jadeja was caught dancing after Australian Marnus Labuschagne complained about movements in the rival dressing room during their match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. The incident took place after Labuschagne was getting distracted by some movements beside the sidescreen. He made repeated complaints to the umpire, resulting in multiple breaks that irritated the Afghanistan players.
Soon after a video emerged in which Jadeja was seen dancing in the dressing room, in an attempt to mock the opponents.
Lmao not Ajay Jadeja dancing after Labuschagne’s complain😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/rnWojWgDxM
— P.💍 (@PrajaktaSharma8) November 7, 2023
Jadeja, who played 15 Tests and 196 ODIs for India, has been credited for the uplift of Afghanistan cricket along with head coach Jonathan Trott. Under the guidance of two former world-class players, Afghanistan stunned England, Pakistan, Netherlands and Sri Lanka in this competition.
Trott, a former England international, also credited Jadeja for playing a pivotal role in Afghanistan’s rise. “I think Ajay brings a lot of experience having played a lot of cricket in India. He’s always a good sounding board with regards to conditions, venues and also the other subcontinent teams that we’ve played against,” Trott said.
Meanwhile, battling pain and exhaustion, Glenn Maxwell conjured arguably the greatest knock (201 not out off 128 balls) in the history of limited overs cricket to single-handedly propel Australia to a sensational three-wicket win over Afghanistan to enter the semifinals.
Opting to bat, opener Ibrahim Zadran became the first Afghanistan batter to score a World Cup hundred and guided his team to 291 for five. In reply, Australia were down and out at 91 for seven in the 19th over. That’s when Maxwell decided to take charge and led an incredible comeback while adding 202 runs for the eighth wicket with skipper Pat Cummins (12 not out), who watched the mayhem unfolding from the other end. In all, Maxwell smashed 21 boundaries and 10 sixes.
Earlier, Zadran carried his bat through the innings and finished on 129 not out off 143 balls.
Afghanistan lost opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a 25-ball 21 but Zadran and Rahmat Shah stitched 83 runs for the second wicket to lay a good foundation before the latter was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell for a 44-ball 30 in the 25th over with the score reading 121.
Unperturbed by the loss of few wickets at the other end, Zadran continued to accumulate runs at a decent rate to prop up his team against the five-time world champions. Rashid Khan smashed unbeaten 35 off 18 balls towards the end.
(With Agency Inputs)