Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has spoken up after Fakhar Zaman was controversially given out during the high-voltage Pakistan–India clash.
The green team skipper said in a press conference that “I don’t know about the decision. As far as I am concerned, it looked like the ball bounced before being collected. Obviously, it’s the umpire’s job and they can make mistakes—I have no problem with that. But to me, it did look like it bounced,” Agha said.
“I might be wrong, I don’t know. The way Fakhar was batting, if he had continued through the powerplay, we could probably have scored around 190,” he added.
The incident took place on the third delivery of the third over of Pakistan’s innings. Fakhar Zaman attempted to drive at an off-cutter from Hardik Pandya, edging the ball towards wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
The delivery, however, lost pace off the pitch, forcing Samson to dive forward to take the catch.
Given the close proximity of the ball to the ground at the point of collection, the on-field umpires referred the decision to the third umpire. Fakhar, appearing confident that the ball had touched the turf, waited for the verdict.
After several replays from multiple angles, third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge adjudged Fakhar out. The left-hander stood momentarily in disbelief before walking back to the pavilion.
On his return, he was seen discussing the decision with head coach Mike Hesson, seemingly surprised at the outcome.
Pakistan gave India a tough fight as their bowlers struck early, removing key top-order batsmen including the Indian skipper. Despite the strong effort, India managed to secure the win by six wickets.
The Indian cricket team won the toss and chose to field against Pakistan. The PAK VS IND match started at 7:30 PKT in Dubai.
During the toss, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav showed disrespect by skipping the handshake with the Pakistani captain once again.
After the toss, he walked straight past Pakistan’s skipper to Ravi Shastri for the pre-match discussion.
