Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20: Yusuf Pathan pulls off a blinder to dismiss Goa skipper Darshan Misal

Yusuf Pathan is a dynamic cricketer, but isn’t the most mobile when it comes to fielding. On quite a few instances, he has given away runs and dropped sitters in the outfield for which he has been criticised. But at times, he has indeed pulled off brilliances in the park, though he isn’t the most athletic cricketers going around. One such instance was in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

It was during the match between Goa and Baroda in Visakhapatnam. In the penultimate over of the game, Goa needed seven runs off eight balls to seal a victory. Suyash Prabhudessai and skipper Darshan Misal were in the middle. The captain was batting on 27 at a strike-rate in excess of 150, looking comfortable. Left-arm fast bowler Rishi Arothe churned out a half-volley wide outside the off-stump.

Misal went for a full-blooded cover drive, but Yusuf’s sheer brilliance left him stunned. The leather was travelling at the rate of knots and had a boundary written all over it. The ball was in the air and Yusuf dived full stretch on to his right. The ball had already passed Pathan when he made the dive and it needed a superhuman effort even from someone like AB de Villiers to latch on to that.

The ball somehow stuck on Pathan’s right hand and Misal was left stunned. The Baroda players rushed towards Yusuf to congratulate him for plucking the ball out of thin air. However, it couldn’t help Baroda get over the line as Goa went on to win by four wickets. Prabhudessai stayed unbeaten on 60 to see his team through to a triumph with a couple of deliveries in spare.

Here is Yusuf Pathan’s video

Not a great day for Yusuf with the bat

Yusuf Pathan has played some incredible knocks, both for India and his domestic sides. But the 36-year-old didn’t make the greatest of starts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In Baroda’s innings, he came to bat at number five after the dismissal of Deepak Hooda.

Unfortunately, right-arm medium pacer Deepraj Gaonkar cleaned him up for a two-ball duck. In the end, Baroda managed 149 in their 20 overs. Swapnil Singh top-scored for them with 50 off 44.