The Al Amerat Cricket Ground Oman Cricket (Ministry Turf 1) witnessed a nerve-wracking thriller between India A and Pakistan Shaheens on Saturday (October 19) in the fourth match of the ongoing ACC Men's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
The game had plenty of ebbs and flows and went right down to the wire before India's Anshul Kamboj held his nerve and defended 16 runs in the final over to help India begin their campaign in style.
Though Anshul was adjudged the Player of the Match (POTM) for his spell of 3/33, it was Ramandeep Singh who produced a breathtaking catch to break Pakistan Shaheen's momentum as they were moving steadily towards India A's total of 183.
The incident unfolded on the first delivery of the ninth over when Pakistan Shaheen's opener Yasir Khan timed his pull shot to perfection off Nishant Sindhu but was forced to make his way back to the dug out. Nishant's half-tracker was dealt properly by Yasir but Ramandeep, who was patrolling the mid-wicket fence dived to his right full sprint and grabbed a gravity-defying catch to bewilder Yasir and stun the spectators.
Yasir's face wore a bemused look as he couldn't believe his luck. The Indian players sprinted towards Ramandeep and celebrated the moment and were joined by the Indian fans who had gathered at the venue for the pulsating contest.
While Ramandeep's catch has set the internet on fire and many are struggling to look for appropriate adjectives to describe it, the former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has called the effort "stunning" and "unreal".
Karthik has described the effort from Ramandeep as "one of the greatest catches ever by an Indian".
Ramandeep's catch snapped Pakistan A's momentum as it brought an end to a 54-run partnership between Yasir and Arafat Minhas for the third wicket. India held their nerve right till the end and claimed two crucial points by winning the contest.
