The Pakistani fans went after India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, accusing him of “cheating”, alleging that he used saliva on the ball just before dismissing Imam-ul-Haq.
The much-anticipated IND vs PAK game kick-started on Saturday at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. After a decent start to Pakistan’s innings by Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique, Mohammed Siraj dismissed Abdullah Shafique and Hardik Pandya got rid of Imam.
Before he began his run-up on the ball he dismissed Imam-ul-Haq, Hardik Pandya was seen doing something unusual and weird with the ball in his hand. He perhaps blew on the ball, a sort of mantra, or a superstition. Whatever it was, it worked to the tee: Pandya bowled a slanted across delivery to which Imam nicked to wicket-keeper KL Rahul.
This action of Hardik Pandya went viral on social media. The Pakistani fans laid suspicions that perhaps Pandya used saliva on the ball – using saliva on the ball was banned from cricket in 2020 – and made tweets accusing him of cheating. There were other funny reactions as well from fans.
Watch the video here:
https://x.com/sagarcasm/status/1713130694116008306?s=20
Reactions on Hardik Pandya blowing on the ball before taking Imam’s wicket:
At the time of writing, Siraj has struck back with the wicket of Babar Azam, who scored 50 runs in 58 balls. Rizwan is batting well, inching near his half-century. It’s a two-paced surface and India would want to restrict Pakistan to under 270.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
