Aasif Sheikh of Nepal won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award on January 26 and entered the records of cricket history. This week, the International Cricket Council named the winners of its prestigious annual awards and Aasif Sheikh is one of the winners of it.
In recognition of his outstanding sportsmanship during his team’s match against Ireland in February 2022, Aasif Sheikh was given the Spirit of Cricket Award. He received a lot of acclaim for his choice not to run out Andy McBrine after the bowler accidently felled him during the Quadrangular series in Oman.
By including the game’s spirit in the preamble to the laws of cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) built a solid basis for the following generation of cricketers. It indicates that in order for the integrity of the sport, the game must be played in accordance with both the law and the spirit of the game.
“Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its laws but also within the spirit of the game. Any action which is seen to abuse this spirit causes injury to the game itself.”
During Nepal’s encounter against Ireland in the sixth game of the Quadrangular series in Oman, Aasif Sheikh was involved in an incident. The Irish batters wanted to put up a competitive total, thus Nepal’s Kamal Singh Airee was given the ball for the 19th over. Mark Adair attempted a massive slog on the third ball of the over but miscalculated the direction of the ball toward the bowler.
Andy McBrine, the non-striker, was attempting to finish a quick single when Kamal Singh, who was rushing to get the ball, accidentally bumped him. The bowler sent a rapid throw at wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh, who cleanly received it but didn’t hit the stump with the gloves.
