Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir lauded compatriot and top order Fakhar Zaman for walking back to the pavilion after nicking the ball to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik during their high-octane Asia Cup 2022 clash with India in Dubai on Monday. "Hats off to @FakharZamanLive for walking off after a nick in a loud stadium when no one heard it. How many would do that specially in such a high-profile game? #PakVsInd #AsiaCup2022," tweeted Sana.
In the fifth ball of the fifth over of Pakistan's innings being bowled by pacer Avesh Khan, Zaman was beaten by the extra bounce made by the ball and as a result, it hit the edge of his bat and went straight into the hands of Dinesh Karthik.
However, the nick was extremely faint and was inaudible amid such a noisy crowd to not only the fans watching from television, but also to players on-field. Indian players did not show any enthusiasm and nobody even appealed to the umpire.
Zaman started to walk off, knowing that he was caught behind and this prompted the umpire to raise the finger, to the surprise of the viewers and Indian players. The southpaw was back in the pavilion for 10 off six balls.
Zaman's gesture of honestly acknowledging his dismissal and walking back to pavilion comes off as highly uncommon and surprising in a contest as high profile as India versus Pakistan, where pressure is intense on both teams and they pull out all stops to win.
Coming to the match, Pakistan were bundled out for 147 in 19.4 overs. Opener Mohammed Rizwan (43) and Iftikhar Ahmed (28) were the only ones who could contribute something decent with the bat. The pace and short-length deliveries of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26), Hardik Pandya (3/25) and Arshdeep Singh (2/33) and Avesh Khan (1/19) blew away Pakistani batters and wickets fell at a regular rate.
Chasing 148, India lost KL Rahul for a duck in the very first over. After this, Virat Kohli (35) anchored the innings and formed a 49-run stand with skipper Rohit Sharma (12), who largely struggled at the other end. Twin strikes from Mohammed Nawaz, who took Sharma and Kohli's wickets restricted India to 3/53.
Following this, a 36-run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav helped move the scoreboard, before Suryakumar fell to debutant Naseem Shah for 18. A 52-run stand between Jadeja (35) and Hardik Pandya (33*) followed, which took India close to a win and in-form Pandya finished the proceedings with a six with two balls to spare, giving India a five-wicket win.
Nawaz (3/33) and Naseem Shah (2/27) bowled really well for Pakistan, though not enough to give them a win.
Pandya was adjudged as 'Man of the Match' for his all-round performance.