PAK vs SL | Twitter praises Imam for keeping Pakistan's 'great fielding' record intact with drop of the WC

10/10/2023

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Despite winning a World Cup and being contenders, Pakistan are always associated with one thing more than anything - fielding gaffes. Imam-ul-Haq joined the infamous list of players messing up fielding when he dropped an absolute sitter off the bat of Kusal Mendis leaving Shaheen Afridi in shock.

Winning the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat first on what appeared to be a flat Hyderabad wicket but were pegged back quickly as Kusal Perera was dismissed as early as the 10th ball by Hasan Ali. As Pathum Nissanka and Mendis negotiated the wicket and started to up the ante, Pakistan were handed a chance to put Sri Lanka in some serious trouble.

On the fourth ball of the fifth over, with the scorecard reading 23/1, Afridi decided to come over the wicket and bowled a full delivery on off stump. Seeing the width on offer, Mendis could not resist throwing his bat at it but all he could find was the edge of the blade. The ball, ever so slowly, moved towards Imam and seemed destined to end up in his hands. However, in a truly vintage display of Pakistan fielding, Imam somehow could not sort out his hands as the ball bounced his fingers and backwards onto the ground.

Not only were all his teammates stunned by what had happened, the Twitterati took little time to come up with some great reactions to remind him of his great cricketing heritage.

Game changing moment?

pic.twitter.com/eKnnKfFW7Y
— Ishan Martinez (@IshanMarti66419) October 10, 2023

Dopped

Imam ul Haw drop simple catch. #PAKvSL #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/68JTHFaAqx
— Nawaz 🇵🇰 (@Rnawaz31888) October 10, 2023

Hilarious

@ Imam pic.twitter.com/Y21hSRWRG2
— M (@anngrypakiistan) October 10, 2023

lol

@ imam pic.twitter.com/NrYKgT1Id0
— رواحا فیاض قریشی🚩 (@rawayyqureshi) October 10, 2023

Liability

Imam is a liability in this team. Fakhar should make this team instead of Imam only on his fielding abilities.
— Badshah (@Badshah007007) October 10, 2023

Everything going south!

And now Imam Ul Haq drops an easy catch of Kusal Mendis 👀

What's going wrong with Pakistan fielders? 😔🤔#PAKvSL #PAKvsSL pic.twitter.com/5IPLF8Wrcz
— Tanveer Hassan (@tanveercric56_) October 10, 2023

The culprit

Mis fielding / dropping a catch is a contagious disease. Imam the culprit, Kusal Mendis the beneficiary.#PAKvSL #SLvPAK #icccricketworldcup2023 pic.twitter.com/dZYEH6sOiX
— Zubair Shakeel Wani (@ZubiTalks) October 10, 2023

Costly drop

Imam missed the opportunity and now we are paying the price.#PakvSL #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/c13xQLpeDR
— Dr. Navaiz Jameel (Rph) (@Dr_Navaiz) October 10, 2023

Correct

Kusal Mendis dropped on 18 on Shaheen Afridi bowling. This could prove costly to Pakistan, considering the Mendis form. Very poor fielding by Imam#PAKvSL #SLvPAK #CWC23 #CricketWorldCup pic.twitter.com/IgJP7N24w9
— Khawar Abbasi (@iamkhawarabbasi) October 10, 2023

Really?