Afghanistan Wicketkeeper Pulls off MS Dhoni-Esque Runout With Backhanded Throw in U19 World Cup 2026 [WATCH]

Afghanistan U19 wicketkeeper and captain Mahboob Khan gave an exemplary display of his prowess behind the stumps by pulling off a runout out of thin air against South Africa in the ongoing U19 World Cup 2026 today (January 16).

During the 14th over of the Proteas chase, Muhammed Bulbulia tried to reverse sweep a Wahidullah Zadran delivery but mistimed it. The ball trickled down to the leg side off his pads as the bowler went up with an appeal. Fixated on what’s happening at the non-striker’s end, Bulbulia was caught unaware as Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mahboob Khan collected the ball in a nifty manner and dislodged the bails with an accurate backhanded throw.

While on real-time it seemed that the batter had comfortably made his ground and the umpires initially seemed uninterested, they eventually decided to refer it to the third umpire. Replays then showed a contrasting picture where Mahboob had managed to shatter the stumps with his throw while Bulbulia’s bat and leg were still in air. The manner in which Mahboob got the wicket reminded of how former India skipper MS Dhoni would

Watch the video of the dismissal below.

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Aghanistan start U19 World Cup 2026 with upset over South Africa

The Afghanistan side showed why they are the dark horses in the U19 World Cup 2026 after kicking off their campaign with an upset over the Proteas. Speaking about the match, Afghanistan batted first and managed to post 266/8 in 50 overs, courtesy of fifties from Khalid Ahmadzai (74), Faisal Shinozada (81) and Uzairullah Niazai (51).

Coming to the chase, South Africa U19 were dealt early blows, losing the top-order under 50 runs. It was then Jason Rowles who made amends with a deft knock of 98 to pull the Proteas back into the contest and keep their hopes alive, although they kept losing wickets from the other end.

The final nail in the coffin came when Mahboob Khan once again contributed in a crucial runout to dismiss danger-man Rowles and shifted the momentum back in Afghanistan’s favour. With Rowles gone, the Proteas could tail put up a fightback but eventually got bundled out for 238, falling short of the required target by 28 runs. With the win, AFG U19 now occupies the second place in the Group D standings of the U19 World Cup 2026 with two points while West Indies leads the table on the basis of a superior run-rate.

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