The World XI vs Windies XI Hurricane relief T20I viewers witnessed a bizarre way of commentating. Former England skipper Nasser Hussain was seen doing commentary from the field. The photo of him standing in the slip region has gone viral on social media. Hussain was seen taking reactions from players between and during overs. He moved around the ground. He talked to players like Tymal Mills and Sam Billings on the boundary line. He can be seen moving away from the ball as it came his way.
The new kind of commentary at Lord’s London did not go down well with Twitterati as they took out their ire on International Cricket Council (ICC) and the 50-year-old former England cricketer.
Here are a few Twitter reactions –
Nasser Hussain has reached stratospheric levels of annoying now. He’s making Sanjay Manjrekar look like Harsha Bhogle. #CricketRelief
— Annanya (@annanyajohari) May 31, 2018
Nasser Hussain is interviewing player on the ground during the match and running around when the ball is hit towards him. pic.twitter.com/grEHjDVAPB
— Yash (@TheJoshya) May 31, 2018
@guerillacricket finally the rumour about old cricketers being put out to pasture on the verdant veld at Lords has been proven truth with a rare sighting of the Nasser Hussain.
— Mog (@Mog7734) May 31, 2018
Nasser Hussain is standing at slips and doing on filed commentary for WI vs World XI game… Wow seen everything in cricket now! #ICCWXIvWi
— Uday Reddy (@uday2121221) May 31, 2018
Who’s paying the insurance money if Nasser Hussain gets floored by the ball while he’s wobbling around the outfield pretending to be a journalist…?
— Tony (@TonyIsntHere) May 31, 2018
“Nasser Hussain is now currently grazing at Cow Corner.” Fine commentary from @NakulMPande #GuerillasTakeLords pic.twitter.com/O8mGqmm8zj
— (@evilscootus) May 31, 2018
Nasser Hussain as Reporter on the field in an International Game… This isn’t allowed anyway #CricketRelief pic.twitter.com/vwfbwdqVDp
— Abhijeet (@TheYorkerBall) May 31, 2018
Okay ICC, Nasser Hussain commentating from behind the keeper/slips/players is not innovation or creativity.. Do not introduce this to international or franchise cricket. #WXIvWI
— Nikhil Jadhav (@42nikhil) May 31, 2018
@robkey612 Nasser Hussain looks like he should have a packet of sweets in his pocket especially in that cardigan!!!
— Jack Biden (@jackbiden) May 31, 2018
Man, what are they making Nasser Hussain do? This is bizarre.
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) May 31, 2018
Why on earth is Nasser Hussain stood behind the wicket keeper with a microphone in his hand whilst a game of cricket is going on?
— Callum Jones (@Callum_Jones_93) May 31, 2018
StarSports uses spidercam
SkySports uses Nasser Hussain#WIvsWorldXI #CricketRelief— TheStumpCam (@theStumpCam) May 31, 2018
The players were joking around as Hussain asked them questions. Just imagine, had this been a high-voltage T20I game and Hussain walked up to Virat Kohli after a six off the Indian bowler, what would have been his answer. This example is reason enough why gimmicks like these should stay away from international cricket.
It was Shahid Afridi’s last international appearance. Afridi played his 99th T20I as the captain of World XI team. His first over went for just one run and he picked up the wicket of Andre Fletcher. He gave 34 runs in his four over spell. The 38-year-old walked in to bat with a runner. He could only score 11 runs from 12 balls including a boundary. The World XI skipper was also given a ‘guard of honour’ as a token of gratitude.
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Windies won the game with ease as World XI succumbed to scoreboard pressure and got bundled out for 127 with 20 balls left in the innings. They lost by a huge margin of 72 runs. The only World XI batsman who stood out was Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera who scored his T20I career-best 61 runs from 37 deliveries.
