Former Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan presented all-rounder Axar Patel with the ‘Fielder of the Match’ medal following India’s thumping win over Pakistan in their ICC Champions Trophy match on Sunday.
Following the win, India fielding coach T Dilip congratulated the team for their fielding performance and introduced three contenders for the medal: Shreyas Iyer, Axar and Ravindra Jadeja.
Shikhar, who is in Dubai in his capacity as the tournament’s ambassador, was then introduced by Dilip. He was welcomed warmly by his ex-teammates, particularly Jadeja and Hardik Pandya, who gave him a hug.
“Congratulations to the whole team, especially the bowling unit. Kuldeep took three wickets. Coming to the batting, Virat, well played. That is what experienced players do. Very well done, Shubman, great consistency. Thank you for inviting me here to present the medal,” Dhawan told the team.
He gave the medal to Axar, who effected an important run-out of Imam Ul Haq with a brilliant direct hit. It was Pakistan’s second wicket and they did not recover from it as their scoring rate fell drastically despite a century stand between Mohammed Rizwan and Saud Shakeel.
Coming to the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy clash, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan was off to a fine start, with Babar Azam (23 in 26 balls, with five fours) unleashing some fine drives in the 41-run opening partnership. After two quick wickets, Pakistan was 47/2.
Skipper Mohammed Rizwan (46 in 77 balls, with three fours) and Saud Shakeel (62 in 76 balls, with five fours) had a 104-run partnership, but they ate up a lot of deliveries. After the end of this partnership, Khushdil Shah (38 in 39 balls, with two sixes) did put up a fight with Salman Agha (19) and Naseem Shah (14), but they were bundled out for 241 runs in 49.4 overs.
Chasing 242 runs, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma (20 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six) early. Then 69-run stand between Shubman Gill (46 in 52 balls, with seven fours) and Virat Kohli (100* in 111 balls, with seven fours) and a 114-run stand between Virat and Iyer (56 in 67 balls, with five fours and a six) helped India secure an easy four-wicket win with six wickets and 45 balls to spare. (ANI)
