After the handshake saga with the Indian Cricket Team that saw ICC dismissing Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) demand to remove match referee Andy Pycroft twice, the board has yet again reached out to ICC, this time over a complaint against the television umpire over a controversial caught-behind issue involving opening batter Fakhar Zaman in Sunday's clash against arch-rivals India in Dubai.
Sri Lankan umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge gave the southpaw out when he was on 15, when the reply did not clearly show whether keeper-batter Sanju Samson had caught the ball cleanly. On-field umpire Gazi Sohel did not raise his finger and referred to the TV umpire, who gave the verdict out, much to the disappointment of the Pakistan team and fans.
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From one angle, it seemed the ball bounced before reaching Samson's fingers, but the umpire verified from another angle, where it showed the keeper's fingers were under the ball. Zaman stood motionless for a while before taking a long walk to the dressing room.
"Pakistan team manager Naveed Cheema went to the match referee, Andy Pycroft, to complain, but was told that it was not his domain. Alternatively, the manager sent an email to the ICC complaining about the umpire," said sources, as quoted in a report by Telecomasia.net.
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Salman Agha opens up about Fakhar Zaman's dismissal
After the match, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha questioned the umpire's verdict of Fakhar's dismissal, saying, "I don't know about the decision. It's obviously the umpire's job. Umpires can make mistakes. And I have no problem with that. But it does look like it bounced before it was carried to the keeper."
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"You can say the way he was batting, if he batted throughout the power play, we probably would have scored 190. But yeah, that's the umpire's call. And they can make mistakes. I don't know. To me, it bounced before it reached the keeper," he added.
