Watch: ‘Spirit of Cricket’, Nepal wicketkeeper Sheikh refuses to run Ireland’s McBrine out, wins hearts on Twitter

Nepal wicket-keeper Aasif Sheikh’s recent gesture during a match against Ireland has won hearts. The incident occurred on Monday, 14 February at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, Muscat during the ongoing Oman Quadrangular T20 Series clash.

During the 19th over of the match, wicketkeeper Sheikh could have easily dismissed Ireland all-rounder Andy McBrine while the latter was taking a quick single. However, Sheikh decided to keep the spirit of the game intact and this gesture is being lauded by fans and the cricket fraternity.

It all happened when batter Mark Adair tried to slog the delivery from Nepal pacer Kamal Singh Airee down the ground, but ended up guiding it towards short mid on after a deflection off his pad. The two cricketers then took a quick single but while doing so, McBrine accidentally collided with pacer Airee and fell on the ground.

Airee ran to his right after his follow through and came in McBrine's way while trying to collect the ball and attempt a run-out. While McBrine quickly got hold of himself, he was well short of his crease by the time Airee threw the ball to Sheikh.

The Nepal wicketkeeper could have dismissed McBrine but chose not to run the batsman out.

McBrine and Sheikh shared a quick handshake after the incident and Sheikh’s gesture became the highlight of the match. As reported by The Indian Express, Andrew Leonard, cricket commentator at that moment, said that he got goosebumps on witnessing this touching gesture. He added that Sheikh should be a nominee for the Spirit of Cricket Award 2022 of the ICC. Later, Leonard took to Twitter and shared a video of the moment. In a series of tweets, the cricket commentator penned all his feelings which he was not able to do so during the commentary of the match.

He mentioned that Nepal captain Sandeep Lamichhane was the one who asked Sheikh to not run out McBrine. Leonard said that while Nepal might have lost the match, they won the cricket world’s heart that day.

A number of Twitter users also applauded Sheikh's ‘Spirit of Cricket’ gesture, extending their support to the Nepal team for displaying brilliant sportsmanship.

Take a look at some of the tweets here:

Ireland may have won the cut-throat cricket match by 16 runs, but Nepal won the hearts of million people. The ongoing Oman Quadrangular T20 series is being contested by Nepal, UAE, Ireland and Oman with UAE leading the series by winning three matches.

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