Shaheen Afridi accused of poor sportsmanship for intentionally bowling wides to prevent Virat Kohli from reaching century: 'Unsportsmanlike behavior'

Heading into the final over, Kohli was just 13 runs away from his century, with India needing 17 runs to win. Axar Patel, the other batsman at the crease, had a simple plan: give Kohli most of the strike to help him reach his milestone. However, Shaheen bowled three wides in four balls, frustrating the crowd and putting pressure on the team. Shaheen's lack of accuracy, combined with a misjudgment from Axar, resulted in a tense moment between the players. The ball flew down the leg-side, with Kohli and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan both trying to stop it. Axar initially thought the ball was heading towards the boundary and didn't run, but quickly changed his mind when he realized it didn't have enough pace. In the end, Axar managed to scramble for a single, keeping the chase alive for India.

With Kohli on strike, Afridi bowled outside off-stump and, two balls later, bowled a slower bouncer, which was given as another wide by the umpire. With three wides in the over, the equation boiled down to five runs needed with Kohli on 94. But the Dubai crowd burst into 'loser' chants, believing that Shaheen was intentionally giving away extras to deny Kohli his hundred. Fans on X echoed the sentiments of The Dubai crowd. Here are some posts.

Not the first time

Thankfully, for Kohli and his legion of fans, his greatness came through. With only three runs needed to win and him batting on 96, Kohli cracked Khushdil Shah through the off-side to bring up his century. Indian batters being denied centuries is not a new concept. The most common instance was former Sri Lanka spinner Suraj Randiv overstepping when Virender Sehwag was batting on 99. Sehwag carted the delivery for six, but since it was a no-ball, India won the game then and there, nullifying Sehwag's century.

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