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Cricket Players'Suddenly Dubai strip...': Akhtar sparks controversy, expresses displeasure with match pitch during IND vs PAK tie
India's openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were hitting the Pakistani bowlers all around the park and the explosive start by India, perhaps triggered Shoaib into questioning the pitch.
Emotions always run high when India and Pakistan play against each other. On Sunday, ex-Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar stirred a controversy by questioning the pitch for the match. The Rawalpindi Express took to Twitter to express his displeasure over the pitch and wrote "Wow. Suddenly Dubai strip is shaved. Grass gone. Hmmm achaaa."
The tweet by Shoaib was made when India got off to an impressive start with openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul going all guns blazing against the Pakistani bowlers in the powerplay. India's openers were hitting the Pakistani bowlers all around the park and the explosive start by India, perhaps triggered Shoaib into questioning the pitch.
India captain Rohit eventually got out to Haris Rauf, after scoring 28 quick runs off just 16 balls. India had already scored more than 60 runs by the time KL Rahul got out to Shadab Khan. The quickfire innings of both openers gave India a big momentum early on in the innings. Later good contributions from Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda, alongside Virat Kohli's anchor innings of 60 runs, ensured that India posted a big total of 181 on the scoreboard.
The Pakistani bowlers did plug in the runs with a few wickets in the middle overs but it didn't stop India from putting a big total. All three of Pakistan's pace bowlers conceded runs at more than nine runs per over. Only the spinners Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan, managed to control the blitzkrieg by the Indian batsmen to some extent.
