No cricket team is better at inflicting self-damage than the perpetually entertaining Pakistan, and there was no reason for things to be any different in the third T20I on Monday. The visitors nearly lost their most in-form pacer Haris Rauf to injury courtesy of Shaheen Afridi’s antics in the field.
Pakistan failed to capitalize on their good start after winning the toss and opting to bat first at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart in the series’ final game. The Shaheens, playing for pride after having already lost the first two encounters, collapsed from 61/1 to 117 all-out with Aaron Hardie scalping three in his four overs while conceding just 21 runs. A steep defence thus awaited the visitors and with Naseem Shah rested, the brunt of the responsibility fell on the experienced shoulders of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi to pull off a miracle. However, little did the side think the two quicks would be more intent on going after each other’s lives.
Rauf was handed the ball by stand-in skipper Salman Agha in the penultimate over of the powerplay and had Marcus Stoinis in his sights. The speedster was met with a ravishing boundary first up and responded with a dot ball but the most dramatic moment of the over came after what was an ordinary single on the third delivery. Stoinis pushed a fuller ball to mid-off and sprinted across calling for a single, creating an opportunity for Shaheen to target the stumps and inflict a run-out. Rauf, meanwhile, stood intently beside the middle of the pitch waiting for the action to unfold as Stoinis looked in danger. However, the Pakistani express quick was left stunned when Afridi instead opted to rifle the ball at the keeper’s end with Rauf in the ball’s path. As the hurled Kookaburra flew towards his face, Rauf made a plunge for the ground at the last moment and was left with his stomach flat on the deck while the ball whizzed past him. Rauf was livid and immediately reprimanded his fellow pacer for choosing the right end but in the end, no damage was done.
Twitterati was elated at having added another chapter to their evergrowing ‘Pakistan bloopers’ collection.
Watch and learn
Almost blew his head off
— Pandit Pranoob (@pranoob76889) November 18, 2024
Haris rauf was almost hit by shaheen shah afridi.
Is shaheen mad. pic.twitter.com/9opywPRrem— Professionalism (@im_ran_83) November 18, 2024
LoL
Live stumps
Lmao shaheen mistaking haris rauf for harass rauf while hitting that throw 😂
— ` (@cricmania21) November 18, 2024
Mohammad Rizwan has been rested for the 3rd T20I vs Australia. Salman Ali Agha will lead the national side for the first time.
🇵🇰 Playing XI:
S Farhan
B Azam
H Khan (WK)
Usman Khan
Salman Agha (C)
Irfan Khan
Abbas Afridi
SAfridi
Jahandad Khan (debut)
Haris Rauf
Sufyan Moqim pic.twitter.com/8tuJdjs3S4— 𝐇𝐮𝐙𝐈𝐈 ♡︎ (@HuZ11786) November 18, 2024
Good one
Only happens with Pakistan
Fitness issue ❌
Fittest Player ✅
Babar Azam ❤️ #PAKvAUS #BabarAzam https://t.co/IyOAnXwTnr— Shahbaz Majeed (@shahbaztweet1) November 18, 2024
The lone warrior for Pakistan batting lineup today,
And some people have audacity to criticize him 😐#BabarAzam𓃵 #PAKvsAUS pic.twitter.com/xyXMcVpu1X— H A M Z A 🇵🇰 (@HamzaKhan259) November 18, 2024
