It has been an exciting albeit somewhat bland couple of days at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, as Pakistan and Australia look all set to play out a drawn test match, thanks to some ludicrously good batting conditions on offer.
A test match of batting supremacy
The past 4 days have seen both the teams amass a combined sum total of 925 runs, with as many as 6 batsmen on either side notching up scores in excess of 50. While the Pakistani top-order pair of Imam-ul-Haq (157) and Azhar Ali (185) sizzled with two brilliant centuries against their names, the Australian batters hit a roadblock in crossing the coveted 3-figure mark.
Usman Khawaja, the Islamabad-born Aussie test opener, was among one of the unlucky few who missed out on a century. The southpaw batted brilliantly all through days 2 and 3 to get to 97-runs; but a miscalculated reverse sweep attempt caused him to hand a simple catch to Imam at short-leg, and fall agonizingly short of what could’ve been a ‘second-home’ test hundred.
A big fan of his grassroots culture, Usman was quick to heap praise on all the passionate Rawalpindi fans who had thronged the stadium to make for a very exciting affair. However, he did seem to take offence at the fact that the Pindi crowed cheered when he got adjudged LBW out on the DRS big screen!
“Didn’t like when you guys cheered when I got out”- Usman Khawaja to Rawalpindi fans
“Thank you, Pindi, Thank you, Islamabad. Crowd has been really good. Everyone has supported us here. You cheered when the DRS showed I was out (smiles)..that’s the only thing I didn’t like,” Khawaja said in his birthplace mother-tongue Urdu language! Here’s the video of Usman, and the other Aussie stars being cheeky with their off-field banter.
Rawalpindi! @UsmanKhawaja isn't too happy with you, he’s telling you why!
Any more queries on how to pronounce Marnus Labuschagne? We can help. #BoysReadyHain l #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/4CcPm3Wx6Z— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 7, 2022
The video uploaded by the PCB also featured Marnus Labuschagne trying to acquaint Pakistani fans with the correct way to pronounce his name. This comes in response after several fans were seen with banners requesting the number one test batsman in the world to clarify the correct pronunciation of his name.
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The footage also features Shaheen Afridi, captain Babar Azam, and Sajid Khan having some fun off-field conversations with the visiting team players.