Sajid Khan claims fooling England spinners by speaking Urdu on Day 2 of third Test (Photo Source : X/Twitter)
Pakistan cricketer Sajid Khan recently came forward and revealed that he and Saud Shakeel managed to fool the England spinners Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed by using Urdu to communicate. Sajid talked about how he and Shakeel used this tactic throughout day 2 of the ongoing third Test between both sides.
It is worth noting that after England scored 267 runs in the first innings, Pakistan replied by posting a total of 344 runs on the board. Saud Shakeel was the highest run getter for Pakistan with 134 runs to his name. On the other hand, Sajid Khan scored 48* runs in just as many deliveries.
In the 86th over of Pakistan’s first innings, both Sajid and Shakeel had a loud conversation in Urdu about taking singles. However, facing the delivery, Sajid managed to hit the ball for a six.
“We were only doing that (speaking loudly in Urdu) to deceive the bowlers. Rehan and Shoaib understand Urdu, so to fool them, we wanted them to hear we were only looking for the single. When we did that, they brought the field up and the bowlers flighted it. Saud told me once they do, no half measures: just go for the big shot as hard as you can,” Sajid Khan was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
He didn’t fool me at all: Rehan Ahmed
Where Sajid Khan kept claiming that he fooled the English spinners with his tactic of speaking Urdu, England’s Rehan Ahmed came forward and rubbished the claims and opined that he was indeed not fooled by the tactics.
“He didn’t fool me at all; he just said it for the media. I didn’t even hear him. He said something like he’s going to run down this ball, and I knew he was going to try and scoop me, and it didn’t really work. I think he batted well, and he hit some big blows, but he didn’t really fool me or Bash,” Rehan commented.