Pakistan batsman Saud Shakeel showed brilliant game awareness and even schooled the on-field umpires about the no-ball rules, which earned him a free hit during the World Cup 2023 match against the Netherlands.
Pakistan and the Netherlands opened their World Cup 2023 campaigns on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
Saud Shakeel was the best Pakistani batsman on show today, joint-top-scoring in the PAK innings with 68 runs off 52 balls which he compiled with the help of 9 fours and 1 six. The left-hander played a terrific counter-attacking innings after Pakistan were in early trouble at 38/3.
In the 22nd over of Pakistan’s innings, which was being bowled by left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe, Shakeel slammed the spinner for a four after coming down the track and depositing the ball between long-on and deep mid-wicket.
However, that risk from the batsman was a calculated one as he had, before the ball was delivered, counted the number of fielders inside the circle and found the Dutch were one short than the ruled allowed. Knowing that he wouldn’t be given out even if he got out, Shakeel took the risky shot and earned a four.
After hitting the boundary, both Shakeel and Rizwan quickly turned toward the umpire to tell them that the Netherlands had one fielder fewer inside the 30-yard circle. The umpires confirmed it and the ball as a no-ball, giving the batter a free hit. On the free hit delivery, Shakeel smashed Roelof van der Merwe for a sixer!
The video of this incident has gone viral, and the fans praised Saud Shakeel for his alert game awareness.
Here’s the video of Saud Shakeel telling the umpire about the no-ball:
— No-No-Crix (@Hanji_CricDekho) October 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Pakistan have been bowled out for 286 runs in 49 overs, and failed to play the entire quota of 50 overs.
Teams:
Netherlands (Playing XI): Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren
Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
