Aasif Sheikh

Shubro Mukherjee ∙ 16 Feb 2022

Watch | Nepal Cricket Team wins heart for displaying "Spirit of Cricket" against Ireland

Nepal wicketkeeper Mohammad Asif Sheikh and his side won hearts around the cricketing world, during a fixture against Ireland on Monday (February 14), for their brilliant gesture of "Spirit of Cricket". On Monday, Nepal locked horns with the Irishmen in the 6th match of the Oman Quadrangular T20I series at the Al-Amerat Cricket Ground at Muscat. The incident took place during the penultimate over of Ireland's innings when Mark Adair tried to hit the ball on the on-side, delivered by Kamal Singh Airee. He failed to make a good connection and tried to steal a quick single. In the process, the non-striker Andy Balbirnie went on to collide with the bowler. Even though Airee picked the ball and threw it to wicket-keeper Sheikh, the latter decider against whipping off the bails to effect an easy run-out. Commentator Andrew Leonard couldn't hold back his emotions and declared it as the "Spirit of Cricket" moment of the year. He said: "I’ve got goosebumps here in the commentary box because that’s a touching moment. It was accidental, and he could have run him out here, and Aasif Sheikh has said, ‘No, he’s not going to do it because of the spirit of the game’. That’s your nominee for the Spirit of Cricket Award for 2022 for the ICC.” Here’s the video: Nepal's heartwarming gesture has earned them plaudits from the Cricket fraternity as well as fans, who took to social media to laud them. Coming back to the game, Ireland eventually posted 127 in 20 overs with George Dockrell top-scoring with a 22-ball 28. In reply, Nepal could only muster 9-111 in 20 overs, with keeper Aasif Sheikh (23 off 22 deliveries) and Dipendra Singh (28 off 30 deliveries) managing in excess of 20 runs. It was a disciplined all-round bowling performance from the Irish, with Andy McBride spearheading it with figures of 2/13 in four overs. Nepal may have lost the Match comprehensively but they turned out to be the real winners in Muscat that day.