Pakistan players hailed Rohit Sharma for his pull shots© Instagram
Captain Rohit Sharma rose to the occasion on Saturday as India mauled Pakistan by 7 wickets in their World Cup 2023 match in Ahmedabad. Chasing a target of 192, Rohit was on the attack from the very first bowl. Rohit scored 86 off just 63 balls, striking six sixes and as many fours, as India crossed the finishing line in 30.3 overs. The Pakistan pacers made the job easy for Rohit by bowling short-pitched deliveries as the Indian captain executed his pull-shot game to perfection.
Ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) posted a video where the Pakistan players were asked to name a player who plays the best pull shots.
In the video, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali and Babar Azam all took Rohit’s name.
While pointing out the same video, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt tore into the players of failing to execute their plans, despite knowing that Rohit has the best range of pull shots under his sleeves.
“A few days back, the Pakistan players were asked ‘who plays the best pull shots?’ All five of them took Rohit Sharma’s name. I don’t know what the statisticians are doing. What are they telling the players. This is very weird that five players from the playing XI are saying that Rohit Sharma plays the pull shot efficiently, and you’re still allowing him to score runs off that,” Butt said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
Strange | #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/b3TMpIlxfG
— Mustafa (@mmustafa_abid) October 14, 2023
Rohit hit the ball to all parts of the ground with his delightful flicks and pulls to entertain an almost all-Indian crowd at the world’s biggest cricket stadium after Pakistan fans were effectively banned from attending.
He fell attempting another hit off Shaheen Shah Afridi to get caught at mid-wicket, but Iyer and KL Rahul took the team home with ease.
(With AFP Inputs)
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