ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: [WATCH] Imam-ul-Haq Drops Easy Catch To Give Kusal Mendis An Early Reprieve

Pakistan’s fielding unit struggled to hold on to their chances during their ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, October 10 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Imam-ul-Haq dropped a simple catch to give Kusal Mendis another life during the match, which proved costly for them.

The incident took place during the seventh over of the Sri Lanka innings. Kusal Mendis look in dangerous touch at the crease. He had slammed three boundaries and a six and had quickly raced to 18 runs. On the fifth delivery of the over, Shaheen Afridi bowled a full delivery outside off-stump to Kudal Mendis. The batter sliced it in the air for a square drive. However, the ball travelled straight to Imam-ul-Haq who was at backward point. He failed to hold onto the catch, dropping a dolly. Mendis made the Pakistan team pay for the error in fielding.

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Kusal Mendis went on to slam a century, scoring 122 runs off just 77 deliveries with fourteen boundaries and two sixes. Samarawickrama also smashed 108 runs at a strike rate of 121.35. Sri Lanka put on 344 runs on the board on the back of the two centuries and a fifty by Pathum Nissanka.

Pakistan’s fielding historically has never been up to the mark: Dav Whatmore

Former Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore recently spoke about Pakistan’s fielding record in international cricket. He highlighted that the team has historically been poor in the department. He expressed the need to improve upon their fielding. Speaking to WION in a recent interview, Dav Whatmore expressed,

“Their fielding historically has never been up to the mark. They have been guilty of some bad pictures of fielding. That department of the game can improve surely.”

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