PCB Chief Ramiz Raja expresses disappointment on controversial ‘no-ball’ call during India vs Pakistan match
The India-Pakistan clash in the 20-20 World Cup turned out to be an action-packed affair with India emerging victorious in an edge-of-the-seat thriller. There was a lot of drama going on in the last over of the match bowled by Mohammad Nawaz as the umpire called the third ball of the over a ‘no ball’. Kohli managed to smash the high full toss over the boundary for a six. Pakistan team were unhappy with the umpire’s decision and protested during the game. Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Ramiz Raja has also expressed his views on the game after the match got over.
Raja took to Twitter and wrote, “A classic! You win some, you lose some and, as we all know, this game can be cruel and unfair. Couldn’t have given more with bat and ball. Very proud of the effort!” he tweeted.
A classic! You win some you lose some and as we all know this game can be cruel and unfair .#TeamPakistan couldn’t have given more with bat and ball. Very proud of the effort!
— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) October 23, 2022
Former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis have also been vocal about the no-ball controversy in the last over. They slammed the umpire’s decision and opined that it should have been referred to the TV umpire. Few others slammed captain Babar Azam for retaining spinner Mohammad Nawaz for the final over.
After the game ended, Pakistan captain Babar Azam was full of praise for Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya who stitched a match-winning partnership of over 100 runs to take the game away from Pakistan.
“It was a tight match and the bowlers did well in the first 10 overs as it wasn’t easy. Credit goes to Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli, for the way they shifted the momentum and finished the match,” Babar said in the post-match press conference.
“Basically, the plan was to introduce our main bowlers because we needed wickets and build pressure as a partnership was building. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Virat Kohli showed his class and Nawaz also did well. It was a close match,” he added.
India managed to chase down the target of 160 on the final ball of the over as Ravichandran Ashwin hit the winning runs. Virat Kohli was awarded player of the match for his unbeaten knock of 82 off 53 balls.
