Stoinis Didn’t Say a Word. He Just Kept Stepping Away. 4 Times. Rizwan’s Sylhet Antics Just Got the Gully Cricket Treatment.
In Sylhet, Mohammad Rizwan kept stepping away from the crease — complaining about sightscreen movement, delaying deliveries, frustrating Bangladesh’s fielders. Litton Das confronted him. The umpires intervened. It became the biggest talking point of the Test series. Then, a few days later, Marcus Stoinis picked up a tape ball. He didn’t say anything about Rizwan. He didn’t need to. He just kept stepping away.
The Sylhet Controversy — Where It All Started
The flashpoint came on Day 4 of the second Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Pakistan were chasing a mammoth target of 437. Rizwan, trying to hold the innings together amid falling wickets, repeatedly stepped away from the crease and complained about movement behind the sightscreen. His actions visibly frustrated Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, who confronted him directly on the field.
Stump microphones picked up the sharp exchange. “What are you doing?” Litton asked Rizwan after another interruption. When Rizwan pointed toward the sightscreen, Litton replied: “Why do you need to look there, bat here.” Rizwan hit back instantly: “Is this your duty, or mine, or umpire’s job?” The umpires had to intervene. Bangladesh fielders continued sledging him, with one comparing it to a line from the Bollywood film ‘Hera Pheri’: “For overacting, we’ll dock 50 paise.”
Bangladesh eventually completed a 2–0 series whitewash, winning the Test by 78 runs. Rizwan scored a fighting 94, but fell six runs short of a century. The controversy, however, refused to die.
Stoinis Enters — With a Tape Ball and a Perfect Imitation
Days after the Sylhet Test concluded, a video surfaced showing Marcus Stoinis — the Australian all-rounder and Punjab Kings star — participating in a casual gully cricket game. What happened next was not planned. Stoinis, waiting to face a delivery, deliberately stepped away from the crease. He did it again. And again. And again. Each time, he grinned. Each time, the others in the game burst into laughter. He was recreating, with surgical precision, Rizwan’s repeated delays from the Sylhet Test.
The video exploded across social media. The Economic Times reported that “the Australian’s playful trolling quickly caught attention online, with cricket fans linking it directly to Rizwan’s controversial stoppages against Bangladesh.” Yardbarker called it “one of the funniest cricket crossover moments of the week.” The clip accumulated millions of views within hours of being posted, with fans flooding comment sections with laughing emojis and “Stoinis for Ballon d’Or” jokes.
WATCH: Marcus Stoinis recreates Mohammad Rizwan’s time-wasting tactics from the Sylhet Test during a casual gully cricket game — stepping away from the crease multiple times before facing the ball.
Stoinis brutally trolled Rizwan 😠pic.twitter.com/aizBLEShLS
— Cricket Gully (@CricketGully) May 21, 2026
Why This Video Hit So Hard
The video worked on multiple levels. First, it was genuinely funny — the visual of a professional cricketer in a street game, repeatedly backing away with a knowing grin, is comedy gold regardless of context. Second, it was perfectly timed: the Sylhet controversy was still fresh in the public memory. Third, it was implicit rather than explicit — Stoinis never mentioned Rizwan by name. He didn’t need to. The imitation was unmistakable. The message was clear. And by letting the actions speak, he made the point more powerfully than any tweet or interview ever could.
