KARACHI: Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha earned a standing ovation from cricket fans for dismissing Indian opener Abhishek Sharma in the first over of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 blockbuster clash at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday.
After winning the toss and putting India into bat, Pakistan captain Agha took a smart tactical decision to open the attack for Pakistan, aiming to counter the left-arm opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
Agha made a decent start to the eventful over by lobbing a length delivery aimed at the stumps to Kishan, who defended it with respect.
Kishan singled his next delivery towards deep mid-wicket, Abhishek had missed India’s previous group-stage match against Namibia due to illness.
The Pakistan skipper bowled tight deliveries to the top-ranked T20I batsman, hitting three points in succession, piling on the pressure.
Agha then bowled a back-of-length on middle and leg, which skidded and was a bit big on Abhishek, who hit it but failed to get the desired connection, resulting in a simple catch to Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was stationed at mid-on.
Cricket enthusiasts took to social media to praise captain Agha for the tactical move that gave Pakistan an early breakthrough in the blockbuster, with some hailing his “bravery”.
“Incredible guts from (Aga) to open the bowling against (the world’s) best spin hitter and get his wicket after yesterday’s report,” X, a cricket fan with the username Spin_Specialist, wrote earlier on Twitter.
Another cricket fan referred to Agha as an ‘off the syllabus’ question for India, referring to a statement by their captain Suryakumar Yadav in which he used the same term as Pakistan’s mystery spinner Usman Tariq.
“There was no question in the syllabus. They prepared for Usman Tariq. And the exam had Salman Ali Agha,” a cricket fan with the username ijazahmad39 wrote on X.
And here’s how cricket fans responded:
Notably, India finished the batting powerplay at 52/1 despite a shaky start, with opener Kishan scoring 42 off just 25 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
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