A brilliant moment of sportsmanship in Ireland 's T20I clash with Nepal has gone viral, with fans praising Nepal for showcasing the true 'spirit of cricket'.
During Ireland's innings, Mark Adair attempted to heave Kamal Singh Airee into the leg side but failed to make clean contact with the ball.
As Adair and his partner Andy McBrine tried to scamper through for a quick single, Airee ran towards the ball in an attempt to effect a run out.
Before gathering the ball, Airee accidentally tripped McBrine, meaning the Ireland all-rounder was left short of his crease when the ball was thrown to wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh.
However, instead of running McBrine out, Sheikh did not to remove the bails as McBrine had clearly been obstructed by the bowler.
Commentator Andrew Leonard praised Sheikh and Nepal for their conduct, calling for the wicketkeeper to be nominated for the ICC Spirit of Cricket award.
"I don't think they're going to run him out here and that is brilliant to see," Leonard said. "Aasif Sheikh take a bow!
"We speak so often about where the spirit of cricket has gone in our game and you see it on show there because Kamal Singh Airee has accidentally tripped up Andy McBrine.
"I've got goosebumps here in the commentary box because that's a touching moment. It was accidental but he could have run him out here and Aasif Sheikh has said 'no'.
"That's your nominee for the Spirit of Cricket award for 2022 for the ICC, it's that young man Aasif Sheikh."
In a thread on Twitter, Leonard added that Nepal's captain Sandeep Lamichhane had instructed Sheikh not to run McBrine out and the pair shook hands immediately after the incident.
Leonard also said the entire Nepal bench applauded the decision not to go for the run out.
Leonard was not the only person impressed by Nepal, with former West Indies quick Ian Bishop simply tweeting: "Lovely."
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham also quote tweeted the clip with four clapping hands emojis.
Former Tasmania and Somerset opener Jamie Cox, who is now the MCC's assistant secretary, wrote: "How good is this. #spiritofcricket. What’s more - Nepal lost! Aasif Sheikh take a bow!"
"Awesome to see this", added current Somerset star Roelof van der Merwe.
