Pakistan’s T20i captain Salman Ali Agha has raised concerns about the disputed dismissal of opener Fakhar Zaman under the Super Four clash by the ACC Men’s Asia T20 Cup 2025 against India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Agha, who spoke of a press conference after Pakistan’s second consecutive defeat to India in the tournament, expressed his reservations about the decision.
“I don’t know about the decision. As for me, it looked like the ball jumped before he was collected. Obviously, it’s the judge’s job and they can make mistakes. I have no problem with it. But for me it looked like it was jumping,” Agha said.
“I might be wrong, I don’t know. The way Fakhar was beating 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 Pakistan’s lap. Fakhar Zaman tried to run by an off-cutter from Hardik Pandya and edged the ball against Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
However, the delivery lost the pace of the field and forced Samson to dive forward to take the catch.
Given the proximity of the ball to the earth on the collection point, the judges on the spot referred the decision to the third judge. Fakhar, who seemed to be sure the ball had touched the grass, was waiting for the verdict.
After several replacements from multiple angles, the third judge Ruchira, Palliyaguruge, convicted out. Left Hander stood instantly in disbelief before going back to the pavilion.
When he returned, he was seen discussing the decision with head coach Mike Hesson, apparently surprised by the result.
The dismissal immediately ignited the debate on social media, with fans and former players criticizing the umpiring standards of the high profiled meeting.
Former Pakistan -Cricketers Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir and Fawad Alam were among those who strongly condemned the decision and called it “unacceptable” in a match of such a size.
Meanwhile, India secured their second win over Pakistan in the ongoing tournament.
When they first battled, the green shirts released 171-5 in 20 overs, but the men in Blue successfully hunted the target in 18.5 overs with four wickets in hand thanks to the opener Abhishek Sharma’s match-winning bank of 74 out of 39 balls.
For the unknown, India faces Bangladesh in their next match in the same place Wednesday.
