‘Ashwin the Analyst’- Fans react as Mohammad Rizwan gets run out in bizarre fashion

Asia Cup 2023 finally began as a massive turnout of fans welcomed home team Pakistan. The opposition for Pakistan were Nepal, who were making their Asia Cup debut. The first game of the tournament was played at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Babar Azam won the toss and had no hesitation in deciding to bat first. Pakistan was recently crowned the world’s number 1 side in ODI cricket. This was after their 3-0 win over Afghanistan. The early highlight of the game was the bizarre run-out of Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

Rizwan was batting well on 44 when he went for a quick single. Dipendra Singh Airee threw the ball towards the non-striker’s end. Rizwan, unexpectedly jumped and did not ground his bat in the ground and was adjudged run-out. This gave Nepal their third wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin comes up with the perfect analysis 

Star Indian bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin is known to have a great mind for the game. Once the wicker of Rizwan fell, the Indian off-spinner took to Twitter to share his insights on the wicket.

Ashwin wrote “The height of the throw made it harder to evade for Rizwan but for someone who generally dives to make his ground all the time while running between the wickets, this is a rare instance of him ducking for cover and the only reason is that he isn’t wearing his helmet. He loves sweeping against spin and no helmet makes it even more bizarre”

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Pakistan saw openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam Ul Haq add 21 for the 1^st wicket. Zaman was the first to go when he was caught behind for 14 off 20 balls with 3 fours. Imam was out next when he was run out by Nepal captain Rohit Paudel for 5.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan then added 86 runs for the third wicket. Rizwan scored 44 off 50 balls with the help of 6 hits to the fence. Sandeep Lamichhane then struck when he had Agha Salman caught by Bhurtel for 5. Skipper Babar Azam was going great guns as he had gone past his half-century and looking good for yet another ODI century.

Here’s how the fans reacted: