Afghanistan were eliminated from the 2023 Asia Cup on September 5 after losing their match against Sri Lanka by three runs. Chasing 292, Afghanistan needed to reach the target in 37.1 overs in order to overtake the net run rate of Sri Lanka and qualify for the Super Fours.

There was one caveat, however. They could have levelled the scores with Sri Lanka (291) and hit a six, reaching 297 in 38.1 overs. That would have been enough for them to qualify as well. Hitting a boundary and clearing Sri Lanka’s total by more than one run would also have given them more time.

But the last batting pair of Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Faroqi didn’t seem aware of that as the latter proceeded to block deliveries after the 37.1 over mark. One of those was a high full toss that he dead-batted back to the bowler.Eventually, he was dismissed on the fourth ball of the 38th over, ending Afghanistan’s Asia Cup campaign.

Trott, the Afghanistan head coach, said after the match that they were not aware of the possibility of hitting a six or four after levelling the scores and qualifying after 37.1 overs. “We were never communicated those calculations. All we were communicated was 37.1 we had to win in,” said Trott. “We weren’t communicated about if we got, it was 295 or whatever it was… 297 in 38.1? That was never communicated with us.”

Mohsin Sheikh, the Afghanistan team analyst, came under fire for having not made the necessary calculations and communicating them with the players. Sheikh posted on social media, saying that Afghanistan had confirmed with the match officials who had informed them that they could not qualify beyond the 37.1 over mark. He has since deleted his posts.

[caption id=”attachment_558076″ align=”alignnone” width=”720″] Afghanistan team analyst Mohsin Sheikh’s deleted posts on social media.[/caption]

Watch Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott mention how they were unaware of Net Run Rate calculations: