ICC World Cup 2015: India vs Pakistan - Quick flicks of the match
Too much butter for breakfast?
It seemed that the Pakistan players had applied a lot of butter on their bread for breakfast. Virat Kohli was dropped twice. Once by Yasir Shah at long-on, and the second time by stand-in keeper Umar Akmal.
While the drops did prove to be costly, adding to the misery were some repeated misfields. In fact, Pakistan should consider themselves lucky that Suresh Raina’s catch just about stuck in the hands of Haris Sohail – what looked like an imminent reprieve.
Kohli equals Dada
When Virat Kohli lifted his arms in the air, looked skywards and mouthed ‘This one’s for you dad’, the late Kohli senior would indeed have been proud. By bringing up his century, Virat Kohli equalled former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 22 ODI hundreds – the second highest by an Indian after Sachin Tendulkar.
Fun fact: The last time India and Pakistan met in an ODI at the Adelaide Oval, it was Ganguly who had scored a brilliant century. So Kohli not only equalled Dada, but also followed his footsteps.
The beaming yorker
It was the 45th over and Mohammad Irfan had been lucky enough to not get reported for a clear above the waist no-ball. So one would have expected him to be a little careful, but the last delivery baffled everyone in the stadium. Irfan, a little taller than seven feet, sent an over-the-head high beamer at Suresh Raina, who ducked well in time.
The ball landed right at the feet of the wicketkeeper, as one of the commentators quipped that Irfan wanting to york the batsman, ended up yorking the wicket-keeper. Had Irfan indeed been reported for that previous no-ball, this beamer would’ve led to him being taken off from bowling.
Help from an unwanted friend
India’s distrust of the DRS has been consistent since the English tour fiasco in 2011. If it isn’t 100% right, it isn’t right has been the line toed by everyone in the Indian cricketing setup. However, on the night of February 15, a pleasant surprise came in the form of a DRS appeal against Umar Akmal.
Akmal, who has for long been the Rohit Sharma of Pakistan cricket, knicked one to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. It was the faintest of faint edges, and snicko didn’t catch much. However, seeing the deviation off the seam, third umpire Steve Davis thought otherwise and overturned the on-field umpire’s decision.
Akmal was gone. India had a wicket. If DRS was a human, he would be grinning.
Shami bounces the giant
In the 46th over, Irfan came out to bat with Pakistan looking down the barrel. The first ball he faced was a bouncer from Mohammad Shami. As the ball whizzed past under his chin, the commentators joked. Now when was the last time a person as tall as Irfan was bounced? Looks like the leaner Shami has taken the best out of the pre-World Cup boot camp.