Nepal's Aasif Sheikh Bags ICC Spirit of Cricket Award For This Act | WATCH

Nepal cricketer Aasif Sheikh has won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award 2022. The 22-year-old was bestowed with the award for his decision of opting not to run out Ireland’s Andy McBrine who tripped while trying to steal a run. The incident happened when Nepal played against Ireland in match six of the Quadrangular series in Oman on February 14, 2022.

Nepal’s Kamal Singh Airee was bowling the 19th over when Mark Adair tried to go for a big heave on the leg side. However, it didn’t come off as the Irish batter expected it to.

The ball scooped up in the air and dropped only a short distance away from the bowler. Kamal went in pursuit of the ball and collided with McBrine, tripping the Irish player as a result. He then threw the ball to the wicketkeeper who had a clear chance at running him out.

Aasif Sheikh chose not to whip the bails, letting the Irish batters complete the run in the process. This act of goodwill earned him the ICC Spirit of Cricket award in 2022. With this, Aasif becomes the first player from Nepal to win this award.

The commentator also took a moment to appreciate the gesture. “Aasif Sheikh take a bow. We speak so often about where the spirit of cricket has gone in our game and you see it on show there,” the commentator was heard saying.

The 22-year-old Wicketkeeper-batter received widespread recognition for the act. However, Nepal ended up losing the game. Ireland posted a total of 127 runs. While the total looked easy, Nepal was bowled out for 111, suffering a 16-run defeat.

The ICC has laid the foundations for the Spirit of the game in the preamble to the laws of cricket. It stated that the game should not only be played within the laws of the game but also the spirit.

At the young age of 22, Sheikh has already played 20 T20I, scoring 468 runs. Along with that, he has also played 22 ODIs bagging a total of 655 runs.

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