India continued their batting performance from where they had left off in Colombo the previous day. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli accelerated their run-scoring, forming an unbroken century partnership. As the partnership grew steadily, the Pakistani team appeared eager to secure a wicket.
This eagerness was evident when Babar Azam decided to introduce his main strike bowlers, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, into the attack. However, their frustration led to a costly mistake as they used up their only remaining review, much to Kohli’s amusement.
In the 29th over, Kohli faced off against Naseem. After being hit for a graceful boundary down the third man earlier in the over, Naseem attempted to trouble the batsman with a delivery down the leg side. He bowled a back-of-the-length ball with decent speed, tempting the 34-year-old Kohli into a glance.
However, Kohli failed to make contact with the ball, and it went straight into Mohammad Rizwan’s gloves. There was a slight noise as the ball passed Kohli, leading skipper Babar Azam and the bowler-keeper duo to believe there was an edge. Without much hesitation, Pakistan decided to review the decision.
The cameras immediately turned to Kohli, who was wearing a wide grin. Kohli briefly conversed with Rizwan in the middle of the pitch, clearly informing his counterpart that the ball had hit his thigh pad, as evidenced by their laughter.
— andre bapat (@AndreBapat82195) September 11, 2023
Replays confirmed Kohli’s assertion, and social media users wasted no time in mocking the Pakistan team for their questionable decision-making.
Virat to Babar:- Bhaii tu Rizwan ki mat sun…🤣 Faltu DRS le liya😂😂#IndiavsPak #INDvPAK #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2023 #ViratKohli𓃵 #BabarAzam #colomboweather pic.twitter.com/ydzeWczJGu
— Krishna Khatri (@KrishnaCKhatri) September 11, 2023
Virat vs Babar ♥️♥️♥️#PAKvIND#AsiaCup2023 #IndiavsPak #ViratKohli #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/p0Au9Nujc5
— Bikash Thagunna (@BikashThagunna4) September 11, 2023
Virat Kohli had a chat with Babar Azam after Pakistan lost review over him. #INDvsPAK #pakvsind2023 pic.twitter.com/AJQfZi5V70
— Ahmad Haseeb (@iamAhmadhaseeb) September 11, 2023