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Pakistan's poor fielding once again got exposed in the ODI World Cup 2023, this time in the clash against Australia at Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, October 20. Babar Azam's brigade's glaring fielding errors allowed Australia's batters to capitalise and post a humongous total of 367/9.
Legendary bowler Shoaib Akhtar took to social media and brutally attacked Pakistan team for their shoddy fielding, highlighting two missed opportunities to dismiss the dangerous David Warner, who ended up scoring a daddy hundred.
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Australia's formidable opening pair of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh launched a blistering assault on the Pakistani bowlers, racking up quick runs and setting the stage for a mammoth total. The duo stitched together an imposing 259-run partnership for the opening wicket in just shy of 34 overs. Shaheen Afridi finally provided some respite for Pakistan, dismissing Marsh after he had scored a commendable 121 runs. Warner, however, continued his onslaught, amassing 163 runs from 124 deliveries, embellished with 14 boundaries and 9 towering sixes.
While Australia's batters were in sublime form, Pakistan's fielding only compounded their woes. Warner, on the score of 10, was handed a lifeline as Usama Mir fluffed a straightforward catch at mid-on, off a Shaheen Afridi delivery. This mistake was particularly costly, with Warner capitalising on the reprieve to build a mammoth score. Regrettably, the fielding errors didn't end there. Usama Mir, in a deja vu moment, dropped Warner yet again in the 33rd over, when he was well-settled at 101 runs. Even the Pakistani skipper, Babar Azam, couldn't escape the fielding contagion, spilling a catch off Steve Smith.
Although, in a stroke of luck for Pakistan, Smith's innings was curtailed at a mere 7 runs.
As the on-field drama unfolded, Shoaib Akhtar, never one to bite his tongue, took to social media platform X (previously known as Twitter), voicing his frustrations over the team's lackluster fielding performance.
“As it is, you're not able to create opportunities. Atleast grab the ones which batters are giving. Come on guys, you cant drop so many catches!,” Akhtar's post on X read.
In the backdrop of these fielding lapses, the Pakistani bowlers and fielders managed to somewhat regain their footing towards the innings' conclusion, limiting Australia to a total of 367/9, who at one stage were well on course of notching 400 runs. Among the bowlers, Shaheen Afridi stood out with impressive figures, claiming 5 wickets for 54 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Responding to this challenging target, Pakistan's batting began on a promising note with Abdullah Shafique (64) and Imam ul Haq (70) scoring fiftes each.
But after their dismissals Pakistan kept losing wickets in regular interval and are reeling at 274/6 as of 41 overs.
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