Published: Sep 25, 2015, 04:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 25, 2015, 04:40 PM (IST)
Never mess with a bowler when you are going strong. Pakistan batsman Aamer Sohail learnt this the hard way in a ICC World Cup 1996 match against India. He was batting well on 55 runs having faced just 45 balls. He hit his ninth four on a Venkatesh Prasad delivery. Prasad pitched the ball slightly away on the off side after seeing Sohail coming down the track but the left-hander was still able to make contact with the ball and the ball raced towards the boundary in the deep-mid-wicket region. After hitting the four the Pakistani batsman signalled with the bat towards the direction in which the ball went; hinting that he will hit the ball again in the same area. Prasad appeared a little angry but he did not say anything. READ: Venkatesh Prasad praises Virat Kohli for backing Ishant Sharma in Dhammika Prasad incident during Sri Lanka tour 2015
The very next ball he got bowled; It was a spectacle. Sohail was batting brilliantly and there was no need for him to provoke the bowler. When you try to show the bowler that you are the boss it mostly gets back on you. There are two reasons for this— first, you break your concentration and second you make the bowler do something different. This happens also the other way round. In the final of ICC 2003 Cricket World Cup Indian bowler Zaheer Khan said something to Australian batsman Matthew Hayden in the first over of the match itself; the over went for plenty and rest is history. Venkatesh Prasad: Ishant Sharma still learning about his bowling
