CPL 2020: Asif Ali almost hits Keemo Paul with his bat after getting out; sparks controversy

Pakistan batsman Asif Ali got himself tangled into a controversy on Tuesday’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 match against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad. Representing the Jamaica Tallawahs, the batsman might face disciplinary action after swatting his bat at opposition fast bowler Keemo Paul during the run-chase.

Asif came to bat after Naveen ul Haq accounted for Glenn Phillips’ wicket at the fag end of the powerplay. But the right-hander couldn’t survive the heat and perished in the second ball of the seventh over. He tried to pull a short delivery from Paul, but couldn’t time it properly. He was in no position to play the stroke and Chris Green took a sharp diving catch.

Thereafter, when Ali was returning to the pavilion, he made a threatening swipe at Paul. The action didn’t go down well with the Warriors’ pacer, who looked back at Asif with utter shock. It remains to be seen if the match referee takes note of it and decides to give the Tallawahs’ batsman a slap on the wrist. When Asif got out, the Tallawahs needed 60 runs off 76 deliveries.

Here’s Asif Ali’s video  

With the bat, Asif has had reasonable outings in the ongoing edition of the CPL. He started with an unbeaten 47 against the St Lucia Zouks, taking his team to victory. Then he got a couple of starts versus Trinbago Knight Riders and the Warriors. As far as the previous match was concerned, it was a pretty one-sided affair and Tallawahs came out trumps by five wickets with 12 balls remaining.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, the Tallawahs restricted the Warriors to a paltry 108. Only Ross Taylor, Nicholas Pooran, Naveen got into double figures with the New Zealander top-scoring with 23 off 22. For Jamaica, Fidel Edwards and Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked up six wickets.

In the run-chase, the Tallawahs lost Chadwick Walton early to Imran Tahir, but Phillips and Jermaine Blackwood brought back sanity into proceedings. Asif Ali and Rovman Powell fell cheaply. However, Nkrumah Bonner’s 30 and Andre Russell’s 23 got Jamaica over the finishing line.