Over the years, cricketers from Pakistan have been involved in many memorable moments on field, many of them comical to the point of bizarre.
But the weird run out on the third day of the second Test against Australia, Azhar Ali outdid them all. One could almost call it a “brain fade”, so extraordinarily unwise was the dismissal!
In the Abu Dhabi Test Ali was batting on 64 in Peter Siddle’s over when he edged one to third man and the ball went rolling towards the boundary ropes. Assuming the ball had gone over the boundary, he walked down to the pitch to have a chat with his partner Asad Shafiq.
But in a bizarre, almost amusing twist, the ball stopped short just of the boundary. It was promptly picked up by Mitchell Starc who threw it to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
But the Pakistan pair, deep in discussion, didn’t see it coming till it was too late and then Ali could only watch as the bails were dislodged.
Like Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur, the viewers could only shake his head in disbelief as Ali had to walk back in what is already a dramatic Test match.
But Ali’s brain fade didn’t go unnoticed on Twitter as people were first astonished and then amused by the strange dismissal.
Where Pakistan cricket is concerned, always expect hilarious run-outs.
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