Pakistan's star wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan got run out in the most bizarre way possible against Nepal in the Asia Cup opener in Multan on Wednesday, August 30.
The right-handed batter, who was batting at 44 runs off 50 balls, kind of jumped over to protect himself from the ball instead of diving down to the crease to secure the run.
The dismissal took place in the 24th over of Pakistan’s innings. Sandeep Lamichhane bowled a delivery that turned away from him. Rizwan pushed it to cover-point for a single. Dipender Singh, the fielder, quickly produced a direct hit at the bowler’s end.
Rizwan didn’t ground the bat as he was worried that the ball would hit him and took evasive action. He fell short of the crease as Nepal produced the run out.
With the dismissal, Nepal also ended Rizwan’s 81-run partnership with skipper Babar Azam for the third wicket.
Fans on X (previously known as Twitter) came up with a hilarious response to Mohammad Rizwan’s run out. A user shared a meme that read:
"Udta hi phiru in hawao me kahi."
Ravichandran Ashwin explained:
"The height of the throw made it harder to evade for Rizwan but for someone who generally dives to make his ground all the time while running between the wickets, this is a rare instance of him ducking for cover and the only reason is that he isn’t wearing his helmet."
Here are some of the other reactions:
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam steady Pakistan after early wickets
A decent partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam helped Pakistan recover from 25/2 on Wednesday. That came after openers Fakhar Zaman (14) and Imam-ul-Haq (5) departed cheaply.
At the time of writing, the hosts were 157/4 with Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed at the crease.
Earlier in the day, Azam won the toss and opted to bat first. The World No.1 ODI side would like to start the Asia Cup campaign on a winning note.
Click here to follow PAK vs NEP live score updates.
Looking for fast live cricket scores? Download CricRocket and get fast score updates, top-notch commentary in-depth match stats & much more! 🚀☄️