Gambhir slams David Warner's dead-ball six; seeks Ravichandran Ashwin's opinion

Former Team India batsman Gautam Gambhir has lashed out at Australian opener David Warner after he whacked a double-bounced delivery of Mohammad Hafeez into the stands for a six during the second ICC T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final against Australia at Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

David Warner scored a quickfire 30-ball 49 before heading back to the pavilion after being caught behind by Mohammad Rizwan off leggie Shadab Khan.

T20 World Cup: Gautam Gambhir slams David Warner's sportsmanship spirit

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Gautam Gambhir questioned an 'absolutely pathetic' display of the spirit of the game by the southpaw. Terming the act as 'Shameful', he tagged senior Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin asking him to comment on the same.

R Ashwin was heavily criticised by fans as well as cricket experts especially the Australian spin legend Shane Warne for the infamous Mankading incident when he had dislodged the bails at the non-strikers' end to run out Jos Buttler without even giving him a formal warning during an IPL 2019 league game.  

David Warner Dead Ball Six

The incident happened during the very first delivery of the eighth over that was bowled by veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez. Australia had made a very strong recovery in the Powerplay overs after having lost skipper Aaron Finch for a golden duck in the very first over of their run chase and the onus was on Hafeez to break this partnership but that was not to be.

The ball seemingly slipped from Mohammad Hafeez's hands and it bounced twice. However, an in-form David Warner ensured that he did not let this opportunity pass by as he advanced down the wicket and smashed it over the mid-wicket region for six. Not only did Pakistan concede six runs without a ball being bowled but the on-field umpire also ended up signalling it a no-ball and a free-hit much to the disbelief of a shell-shocked Hafeez.

The Men In Green did heave a sigh of relief after having seen the back of Warner. Nonetheless, the Ultra-Edge showed that he had not even nicked the ball and walked back just one run short of what would have been a magnificent half-century. At one point in time, it did appear that Warner's hasty act could end up costing the Aussies a place in the final but wicket-keeper batter Matthew Wade ensured that Finch & Co. lived to fight another day when he struck star pacer Shaheen Afridi for a hat-trick of sixes as the Australians snatched victory from jaws of defeat. 

In fact, Gambhir had also lashed out at Shane Warne and Australia's two-time World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting for their spirit of the game remarks.

"Shane Warne comments by all means, tweets at everything. Even Ricky Ponting makes big, big claims about the spirit of the game. What have they got to say about this?" wondered Gautam Gambhir while speaking on the Star Sports' post-match show.

"When Ashwin mankads someone at that time, people come up with big comments. Today, what has Shane Warne got to say about David Warner? Because it's easy to criticise someone but extremely difficult to criticise your own players", he added.