"I was surprised that he could see the ball" - Aakash Chopra on Mushfiqur Rahim's catch in SL vs BAN 2023 World Cup clash in Delhi

Aakash Chopra has expressed surprise about Mushfiqur Rahim's ability to sight the ball when he took a stunning catch under smoggy conditions in Delhi in Bangladesh's 2023 World Cup clash against Sri Lanka.

Rahim's catch gave the Bangla Tigers their first breakthrough and they eventually bowled out the Lankan Lions for 279 in Monday's game. Shakib Al Hasan and company then chased down the target with three wickets and 53 deliveries to spare to register their second win of the tournament.

Reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was stunned by Rahim's spectacular catch. He reasoned (4:15):

"Sri Lanka were asked to bat first. They got Kusal Perera at the start and he got out. Mushfiqur Rahim took an amazing catch. I was surprised that he could see the ball because nothing was visible in Delhi."

The former India opener was also taken aback by the number of spectators who came to watch the game. He said:

"The smog situation is very bad. You can understand that people have a compulsion to play but I was surprised that spectators came to watch the match. The primary schools are closed, the senior secondary schools have been given the option, but you have gone to the ground to watch the match."

The air quality in Delhi has been in the 'severe' category over the last few days. The Sri Lankan and Bangladesh cricketers didn't train much ahead of the game, with the asthmatic players advised by the doctors not to venture out.

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"The score looked defendable but there was a lot of dew later" - Aakash Chopra on Sri Lanka's batting

Charith Asalanka scored 108 runs off 105 deliveries. [P/C: AP]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Sri Lanka reached a reasonable score despite Angelo Mathews getting dismissed timed-out. He stated (4:55):

"Angelo Mathews got timed out and Charith Asalanka scored a century, which is very good. Dhananjaya de Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored runs and you reached a decent position. The score looked defendable but there was a lot of dew later."

The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Shakib Al Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto for stitching together a match-winning partnership during Bangladesh's chase. He elaborated:

"Although Dilshan Madushanka took two wickets with the new ball, there was a long partnership, in which Shakib Al Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto scored runs. Both missed their centuries, which is okay, don't worry about it, don't talk about it."

Chopra highlighted that it was the first time Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka in an ODI World Cup game. He added that while Shakib and company had already been eliminated from the tournament before the game, they ensured that their Asian rivals got knocked out as well.