The ongoing Pakistan v Sri Lanka ICC World Cup 2023 match being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on October 10 saw one of the best innings in the tournament by Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis.
Dasun Shanaka won the toss and chose to bat first on a batting beauty of a pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad. Maheesh Theekshana returned to bolster the Lanka bowling. Pakistan left out out-of-form Fakhar Zaman and brought in Abdullah Shafique.
Kusal Perera failed once again as he was dismissed for a duck by Hassan Ali. But then Pathum Nissanka (51) added 102 runs with Kusal Mendis for the second wicket before falling to Shadab Khan. But the stand-out player for Sri Lanka proved to be Kusal Mendis.
Mendis hammered 122 runs in just 77 balls with 6 sixes and 14 fours to his name. He was caught by Imam Ul Haq near the boundary ropes off the bowling of Hassan Ali in the 29th over.
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As evident from the video, Imam Ul Haq took a well-judged catch near the boundary ropes despite losing his balance and falling near the padding.
However, keen-eyed fans noticed that the boundary rope behind Imam was not where it should’ve been and was pushed back. There was a clear line which showed where the rope should’ve been placed. But it was moved back for some reason and it gave Imam a couple of inches of comfort to take the catch.
Some fans also shared a video grab of Imam fielding at the boundary in the match against Netherlands, which was also played in Hyderabad, and the boundary rope was clearly moved back from its position behind him.
Here is how the cricket fans on X shared their thoughts on this issue:
