Australia batter David Warner's six off Pakistan spinner Mohammad Hafeez on a delivery that bounced twice in the T20 World Cup semi-final has left the cricket fraternity divided. Warner had smashed a six after Hafeez lost control on the ball and it reached the batter in two bounces. 

Former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis is not pleased with Justin Langer, the Australia head coach, who lauded the shot as 'one of the best things' he ever saw in the game of cricket. "Oh my gosh! it's one of the best things I have ever seen in the game of cricket. I don't think anyone would have the instincts to do that," Langer had told reporters.

ALSO READ: T20 World Cup 2021: Zampa disagrees with Gambhir doubting Warner's sportsmanship over a six

Waqar, however, accepted that Warner's shot was within the rules of cricket and he has the right to go after the delivery. "It’s fine. It was legal. He had the right to hit it and he did. That’s all good. But promoting it is wrong. The way Justin Langer praised it by saying things like ‘Brilliant presence of mind, I’ve never seen anything like this on the cricket pitch’… that is ridiculous. 

"That is not right. What are you teaching the little kids? Fine, it is your mindset… you play the way you want to but don’t teach the youngsters," he said on A Sports.

While slamming Langer for his comments, Waqar also recalled a Test match between Pakistan and Australia when the then Aussie batter had not walked despite edging a delivery, and he later admitted to have nicked it. 

"Justin Langer has this history. In a Test match in the 1990s, we played a very famous Test match at Hobart. We were on the brink of winning the Test match but when he nicked the ball, he did not walk. And it was the biggest nick I had ever heard," he said.

"He admitted 2-3 days later. I had a chat with him at one of the functions and he said ‘oh, there was a click in there. I said 'don't give me that rubbish’. He agreed to it. What are you trying to promote?", Waqar added.

Australia had defeated Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final by 5 wickets. They chased down 177, thanks to a quickfire 17-ball 41* runs knock from Matthew Wade.

Warner also scored 49 runs off 30 balls before getting out to a delivery by Shadab Khan. Interestingly, he decided to walk off despite not edging the ball after he was given out by the umpire. 

(With A Sports Inputs)