On Day 3 of the opening Test match against New Zealand on Wednesday, Pakistan performed poorly. The hosts had to work extremely hard with the ball after scoring a solid 438 in the first innings because the Kiwis concluded the third day with a two-run lead and four wickets still in hand. What’s more, Ish Sodhi had just arrived at the wicket when Stumps were called, and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had just smashed a stunning century to remain unbeaten. Abrar Ahmed, a Pakistani bowler, claimed three wickets, and Nauman Ali, two. Even Babar Azam, who missed the majority of Day 3 owing to what was reportedly the flu, bowled three overs as the play progressed and the pitch grew more favorable to the batters.
Left-arm spinner Nauman attended the press conference after the day was over and was questioned about his recent performances for the team in an especially critical manner. The spinner has hit a century, the reporter said after describing Nauman’s statistics for the previous four innings (with the ball). “We know it’s a dead wicket but spinners have a role to play on such tracks. If we look at your stats, you have scored centuries in the last four matches with the ball. You’ve conceded 100+ runs. If spinners can’t take wickets… do we only rely on god’s will to save us, as Saqlain Mushtaq had said? Do players not have the talent anymore?” the reporter asked Nauman bluntly.
The fans lauded Nauman for remaining calm as he answered the question:
It’s a very calm response to a rude question… A great sign of a mature cricketer already… Nauman Ali https://t.co/lgJ95jl6dz
— Ramos15 |?? (@ramos15T) December 28, 2022
Nauman Ali 👍#PAKvsNZ #PAKvNZ pic.twitter.com/XLqpXskoCZ
— CricketFans (@_fans_cricket) December 28, 2022
More than asking the question; this was a humiliation attempt and a personal attack on the player. All respect Noman Ali for handling it beautifully. @Shoaib_Jatt please stop this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/HdjyMPLnoo
— PSL Memes (@PSLMemesWalay) December 28, 2022
Classy response from Nouman 👏 https://t.co/OHjzV1aeEH
— R (@halalcricketer) December 29, 2022
The Pakistan spinner calmly reminded the reporter to also count the overs. “You correctly said that I conceded 100+ runs but you didn’t count the overs. I’ve bowled 40-45 overs. If you bowl almost half of the team’s overs, you are bound to concede runs. We try to do our best under the conditions given to us. And we will try to win this match as well,” said Nauman in a rather composed manner.
