Watch: BAN vs AFG World Cup match interrupted after Afghanistan batter forgets to wear box

A bizarre occurrence caused an interruption to the on-field proceedings when Bangladesh and Afghanistan were engaged in their ODI World Cup opener in Dharamshala on Saturday. Afghan batter Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who came out to bat at No. 8, forgot to wear his box before stepping on the field. The event transpired during the 35th over of the first innings when Afghanistan were reeling at 150/7. Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan had yet to bowl four balls of that over when Mujeeb arrived at the crease. Fielders had already taken their positions and were all set for the next delivery. That’s when Mujeeb gestured at the bowler, asking him to stop the run-up.

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The opposition fielders as well as the commentators were left assuming the cause of the sudden halt. Everything was cleared when a substitute fielder from the Afghanistan dugout was spotted rushing into the ground with a box in his hands. Matthew Hayden and Simon Doull, who were serving the commentary duty, were left in splits.

 

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After getting to know the actual reason, Hayden said on-air, “Well, that’s a mistake at any given time of the day. That should be the first thing that you put in your package.” On the other hand, it seemed like “proper village stuff” to Doull. The New Zealand legend went on to take a dig at the substitute fielder who was trying to hide the box with his hands. “You can’t hide it, chief, we all know! He’s trying to hide in his hand! You can’t hide it! We all know what’s going on,” Doull quipped.

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After everything was settled, Mujeeb finally played his first ball off Hasan and pushed it to the cover for a single. He could survive only four balls before Hasan baffled him with a slower delivery in the 37th over. Mujeeb tried to go over the boundary. But he missed the line completely and ended up losing his stumps.

Thanks to a crucial 47-run knock from opener Rahamanullah Gurbaz, Afghanistan managed to produce 156 runs. Bangladesh lost their both openers early in the chase. Mehidy Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto then joined hands and stitched a partnership of 97 runs. Shanto remained unbeaten at 59 as Bangladesh completed the chase in 34.4 overs.