5 funniest "comedy of errors" moments from Pakistan men's cricket team in last 5 years
Pakistan are among the few cricket teams to have won both the ICC ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup. The Men in Green have had some of the best fast bowlers of all time. The Asian country has also produced some classy batters.
While bowling has been the strongest point of Pakistan, their fielding has often let the bowlers down. Over the last few years, fans have witnessed such instances when the Pakistan men's team was involved in a comedy of errors.
Be it fielding, catching or even running between the wickets, the Pakistan team has struggled a bit in that area. Here's a list of five instances when the Men in Green were involved in a comedy of errors during the last five years.
#1 Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan's run-out fail
During the first ODI of the ongoing Pakistan vs Afghanistan series, Afghanistan's Ikram Alikhil pushed a delivery from Naseem Shah towards the off-side. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was at the non-striker's end.
There was some confusion between the Afghanistan batters, and they were almost at the same position on the pitch for a moment. Gurbaz declined Ikram's call and sent him back. Fakhar Zaman charged in from the cover region. He collected the ball and tried out take the bails off the stumps himself.
However, after realizing that Ikram would make the crease, Zaman threw the ball to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who was far from the stumps. Rizwan tried his best to dismiss Ikram, but the batter was home by then.
#2 Shaheen Afridi kicks the ball into the boundary line
During the Australia vs Pakistan Test series in 2019, David Warner played an off-side drive off Yasir Shah's bowling. The timing was good, but it looked like the fielders would stop the ball well inside the boundary line.
Shaheen Afridi chased the ball at the Adelaide Oval. He reached near the ball, and just when it looked like he would collect it and throw it to the bowler or wicketkeeper, he ended up kicking the ball outside the boundary line.
#3 Sarfaraz Ahmed fails to execute a simple-looking stumping
The Men in Green visited the United Kingdom for a full-fledged cricket tour in 2020. Sarfaraz Ahmed kept the wickets for the visitors during the T20I series against England.
In the third T20I of the series, Moeen Ali missed a ball from left-arm spinner Imad Wasim. The ball went to wicketkeeper Ahmed, who surprisingly took a lot of time to collect the ball that came directly towards him. He took so much time that the bails were not off the stumps even when Moeen came back inside his crease after standing outside for a while.
#4 Pakistan fielders goof up big time against Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka played an away series against the Men in Green back in 2019. In the third ODI of the series, Danushka Gunathilaka pushed a ball from Shadab Khan towards the mid-wicket region.
Gunathilaka and Lahiru Thirimanne tried to steal a quick single. The fielder failed to throw the ball to the wicketkeeper. It was a wayward throw which beat the two backup fielders and crossed the boundary, gifting four overthrows to Sri Lanka.
#5 Fielder pushes the ball into the boundary
During the first T20I of the series between Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2020, Mohammad Naim flicked a ball from Shaheen Afridi towards the leg-side. It looked like the fielders standing in the deep would stop the ball comfortably.
When the fielder from deep square leg came near the ball, he attempted a slide. The slide was not perfect and instead of collecting the ball, the fielder ended up sending the ball to the boundary.