It was a chase and a match to remember for Pakistan cricket and their fans all around the world. After all, they scripted a historic first-ever win over their neighbours, India, in the T20 World Cup Super 12 stage. One of the biggest architects of their win was opener and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. And interesting, according to a video posted by ICC, Rizwan had seen it coming.
For a batter, shadow batting plays an important role in helping them visualise certain scenarios and get their juices flowing ahead of the match. Rizwan, who scored a fabulous 79 not-out in Pakistan's 10-wicket win in Dubai on Sunday, did plenty of it behind the playing surface and ICC posted a split-screen video to accurately show how his “masterpiece started even before a ball was bowled”.
WATCH | THE SCINTILLATING TALE OF RIZWAN'S SHADOW BATTING
Babar Azam won the toss and asked India to bat first. They picked up three wickets inside the Powerplay, courtesy of a rampaging Shaheen Afridi. He dismissed both the India openers, Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3), before Hasan Ali sent Suryakumar Yadav packing on 11.
{{/usCountry}}Babar Azam won the toss and asked India to bat first. They picked up three wickets inside the Powerplay, courtesy of a rampaging Shaheen Afridi. He dismissed both the India openers, Rohit Sharma (0) and KL Rahul (3), before Hasan Ali sent Suryakumar Yadav packing on 11.
{{/usCountry}}Skipper Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant rebuild India's innings with a 53-run stand before the latter was dismissed on 39. Eventually, not before Kohli smashing a 29th T20I fifty, the “Men in Blue” posted 151/6 in 20 overs.
In response, Babar and Rizwan made light work of the chase. With dew seeping in, the ball was coming onto the bat better, as Kohli mentioned in the post-match press conference, but a top effort was still required.
And their openers did just that. Azam smashed an unbeaten 68 and stitched an unbeaten 152-run stand to seal victory in just 17.5 overs.