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Pakistan’s fielding was in shambles in the World Cup 2023 warm-up clash against Australia on October 3. Dropped catches, missed stumping, misfielding, fielders converging and making a mess, the innings had it all. The videos of their faux pas have been making rounds on the internet. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan did not hold back either and trolled Pakistan fielders for letting the ball go for a boundary between them.
“Pakistan & fielding never-ending love story,” Dhawan wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) with a video.
The incident took place in the 23rd over of Australia's innings. Haris Rauf bowled a short of length delivery to Marnus Labuschagne who guided it towards a deep backward square leg. Rauf had protection in the deep. Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Wasim Jr. converged but started to pull out as they saw each other. They did not touch the ball as it raced towards the boundary.
Similar incidents happened in the warm-up game as Pakistan fielders gifted runs to the Australians. Nawaz and stand-in captain Shadab Khan dropped one catch each whereas wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris missed a stumping. Skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan were rested from their second warm-up match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
Earlier, after winning the toss Pat Cummins opted to bat first. Usama Mir got the wicket of both openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Steve Smith, Labuschagne, and Alex Carey got starts but could not convert them into big scores. However, they maintained a healthy run rate throughout the innings. Glenn Maxwell's 71-ball 77, Cameron Green's unbeaten 40-ball 50, and Josh Inglis' power-packed 30-ball 48 guided Australia to a mammoth total of 351/7.
Apart from fielding issues, Pakistan had more questions than answers after Australia's innings ended. Their frontline speedster Rauf conceded as many as 97 runs from nine overs. Shadab and Wasim Jr. were expensive as well. Shadab conceded 69 runs from his full quota of 10 overs whereas Wasim Jr. conceded 63 runs from eight overs he bowled.
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