Watch: Airborne Ramandeep Singh pulls off one-handed screamer to dismiss Pakistan Shaheens opener, leaves opposition dugout stunned

The India A team had set high fielding standards for themselves and it showed in their ACC Emerging Asia Cup 2024 opener against Pakistan Shaheens. Ramandeep Singh made the difference when he covered a lot of ground and dived to pluck one out of thin air to dismiss Pakistan Shaheens opener Yasir Ali and leave the opposition dugout stunned at Al Amerat Cricket Ground. 

The dismissal happened in the ninth over of the innings. India A needed a breakthrough and skipper Tilak Varma introduced left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu into the attack. Yasir decided to take him on first ball and hit it towards deep mid-wicket. He barely got the elevation and the ball on its way for a one bounce four. But Ramandeep came running and took a jaw-dropping one-handed catch while he was airborne to dismiss Yasir. 

Ramandeep has been an athletic fielder and showed glimpses of it when he played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He was part of KKR’s IPL 2024-winning squad as well. 

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India start with a win

Yasir's wicket was big for India A. He was batting on 33 off 22 balls having hit a four and three sixes already. Sindhu struck one more time in the over and got the wicket of other set batter Qasim Akram. Despite Abdul Samad's late cameo, Pakistan A lost the match by seven runs as they managed to post 176/7 on the board.

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Cameos help India post fighting total

Earlier, Varma won the toss and opted to bat first. Abhishek Sharma (35) and Prabhsimran Singh (36) got India off to a blazing start. Spinners slowed it down in the middle overs and Varma took his time to settle. Nehal Wadhera could not convert the start into a big score and eventually lost his wicket. In the middle-order, Ramandeep contributed with a cameo in the slog overs. He scored 17 runs from 11 balls including a four and a six before getting run out by Pakistan Shaheens skipper Mohammad Haris. India posted 183/8 on the board.

India A's next match is against United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 21. Meanwhile, the defending champions will go up against hosts Oman on October 21.