VIDEO | Mohammad Irfan gets smashed to smithereens by Aaron Finch on international comeback
Prior to the start of the T20Is, all the talk was about a certain Mohammad Irfan who was making his much-awaited international comeback after three years. However, Aussie skipper Aaron Finch busted every myth surrounding the left-armer, ruining his comeback by smashing 26 runs off his 2nd over.
In under two months of Misbah Ul Haq's tenure as the Pakistan coach, a lot of interesting things, including the sacking of Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain and the inclusion of several teenagers, have happened. But arguably the most interesting decision of his might be that of recalling the tall and lanky speedster Mohammad Irfan, who last played international cricket for Pakistan way back in 2016.
Heading into the T20Is, there was plenty of chatter about Irfan and how his height could trouble the Aussie batsmen on bouncy wickets and hence all eyes were on the pacer in the first T20I in Sydney. But one person who wasn't having any of the hype surrounding Irfan was Aussie skipper Aaron Finch. In just Irfan's second over on his international comeback, Finch decided enough was enough and started unloading on the pacer, tonking him to all parts of the ground.
Finch thwarted the first two deliveries of Irfan's second over for 10 runs - a huge six to deep square leg and a four to mid-wicket - and a clearly rattled Irfan then overstepped on his third delivery and sprayed it wide outside off, which was dispatched for yet another boundary by Finch. This meant that Finch had already taken 15 runs off just two legal deliveries, and to pile more misery on Irfan, the Aussie skipper then struck a humongous six on the free-hit to take the tally to 21 runs off the over in just three deliveries.
Irfan then responded well with a dot ball, but the joy didn't last long for him as Finch then smacked five runs off the last two deliveries to take the tally to 26 runs off the over. For someone who spoke so much about 'ending' Gautam Gambhir's ODI career, it is indeed ironic that Irfan's comeback panned out the way it did. One can be sure that we won't be hearing much from him off the field for quite a while in the future.
View this post on InstagramAaron Finch went bananas in the third over, smacking Mohammad Irfan for 26 runs! #AUSvPAK