[Watch] When Imran Tahir left his South African teammates in splits by faking cramps to save a Test vs Sri Lanka in 2014

While the cricketing world continues to debate Gulbadin Naib's 'injury' to delay proceedings in the 2024 T20 World Cup clash between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, it is worth looking back at a similar incident that happened a decade ago. Former South African spinner Imran Tahir, in a bid to ensure the Proteas salvage a draw in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in 2014, seemingly faked cramps.

South Africa were 159/8 after Tahir blocked the final ball of the 110th over and with the Lankan spinners racing through the overs, there was a possibility of another two or three overs.

However, Tahir began cramping before lying on the ground to force the physio to attend to him, thus, wasting more time. It had even teammates Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy in splits in the dressing room, with the Sri Lankan players looking on in disgust.

Here is a video of the whole episode:

The strategy worked as Sri Lanka could only bowl one more over and Vernon Philander negotiated it safely as South Africa finished on 159/8 in 111 overs.

It meant the Proteas drew the contest and won the series 1-0 to keep their unbeaten away Test series streak since 2006 intact.

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Gulbadin Naib performed a similar act in Afghanistan's semi-final-clinching game against Bangladesh

Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib suddenly went down with a leg injury, later clarified as "cramps" by skipper Rashid Khan during the waning moments of Bangladesh's run chase in the 2024 T20 World Cup clash at St. Vincent on Monday, June 24.

It was almost certainly a deliberate attempt to delay the action as Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott signaled his players to slow things down as they were two runs ahead by the DLS method when it started to drizzle. The tactic worked as players went off the field momentarily before play resumed with only an over-reduction.

Funnily enough, Naib was not only back on the field seemingly fit but also bowled two vital overs with figures of 1/5 to help Afghanistan pull off an eight-run victory.

While social media was flooded with congratulatory messages on Afghanistan qualifying for their first-ever semi-final of a major ICC event, there were reactions from fans and experts towards Naib's act.

Yet, skipper Rashid Khan later defended Naib and felt the moment made no difference to the contest's outcome.