PAK vs AUS: Pakistan flag that troubled Steve Smith placed back immediately after he gets out

Australia’s Test batting mainstay Steve Smith expressed his disappointment with the movement of the buggy camera on Day 1 of the third and final Test match against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 21. Smith had all the reasons to be unhappy as it was affecting his concentration.

Apart from the camera, another thing that distracted the senior batter was Pakistan’s flag that was also placed just above the sightscreen and he immediately complained to the on-field umpires in order to get things sorted out. While the flag was removed from the area, it was again placed over there after Smith got out later in the day.

Having come out to bat when his team was reduced to 8/2, Steve Smith scored a vital half-century. He made 59 runs off 169 deliveries before being dismissed by young pacer Naseem Shah. However, what really stood out here is that the Pakistani flag was once again put back on the sightscreen after Smith’s dismissal. The image of the same was shared on Twitter.

Watch it here:

And the Pakistan flag is back flying proudly over the sight-screen as soon as Steve Smith leaves the field after he’d been distracted by it & a few other things at the start of his innings #PAKvAUS pic.twitter.com/7qqpnXHSwl

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) March 21, 2022

Honours shared on Day 1

Meanwhile, this is the Australian batting megastar’s third half-century in the ongoing series. He had registered scores of 78 and 72  so far but couldn’t get to the three-figure mark. He would now be eyeing a three-figure score in the second innings.

Coming back to the contest, Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins won the toss in the morning and elected to bat first. The visitors suffered an early setback as they lost key wickets of opener David Warner and number three batter Marnus Labuschagne. Smith and Usman Khawaja then carried out the rescue act by adding 138 runs for the third wicket before the former was dismissed.

Khawaja then took the responsibility from thereon and was unfortunate not to score a ton. The match is currently in the balance with Pakistan fighting back in the final session with three wickets. Australia ended the day at 232/5 after 88 overs.