Debate Over Fakhar’s Edge
Pakistan captain Salman Agha expressed doubts about Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal against India, suggesting the catch might not have been clean. Fakhar, opening the innings, looked in fine touch with three boundaries in just eight balls before edging Hardik Pandya’s slower delivery.
Sanju Samson dived forward to complete the catch, and after multiple replays, the third umpire ruled it clean. However, Agha wasn’t entirely convinced.
“𝑼𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓. 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆,” 𝑨𝒈𝒉𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Despite the controversy, Pakistan raced to 55 in the powerplay and 91 in the first ten overs, both records against India. Sahibzada Farhan’s fluent half-century gave them early momentum.
Pakistan’s Strong Start Fizzles Out
Agha admitted that Pakistan had the platform to score big but lost momentum after the drinks break. From 91 in ten overs, they managed only 38 in the next seven.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 180. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Pakistan eventually posted 171, their highest first-innings total against India, but India’s openers chased it down with ease, reaching 100 without loss inside nine overs. Missed chances in the field further dented Pakistan’s chances, as Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma made the most of dropped catches.
Agha Calls for Improvement
Looking ahead, Agha urged his side to bounce back quickly with another game around the corner.
“𝑻𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒕𝒔—𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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