On Sunday, 23rd February, the cricket world stood still at (9:00 am BST); why? Pakistan faced India, knowing that only a win would be in Dubai. Mohammed Rizwan's Pakistan are the defending champions and were looking to avoid on becoming the first defending champions to be knocked out in the Champions Trophy group stage.
From that victorious group eight years ago, ex-captain Babar Azam, a then fresh-faced youngster and Fakhar Zaman remained. Although on neutral ground due to political reasons, Pakistan were technically the home side, and they would bat first after winning the toss. Unlike the loss against New Zealand, in this game, the men in green seemed more determined to accelerate scoring. Fakhar had to sit this one out, so that meant Imam Ul-Haq returned to the side.
The make-shift opening pair of Babar and Imam did relatively well until Babar Azam was caught behind off the brilliant bowling of Hardik Pandya. With just one down at the point, the hosts had a chance to rebuild the innings, but Imam Ul-Haq, who is notorious for his poor running in between the wickets, took on Axar Patel in the field and failed miserably in taking on a run that was never there.
Continue reading this piece by ayyazthebeardedcaptainmalik
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