When Mehdi Hasan Miraz pulled the wickets from the stumps to run out Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga during the Bangladesh vs Pakistan 2nd ODI (BAN vs PAK 2nd ODI) match at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on March 13, the spirit of the game might have been shocked.
Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir accused the umpires of supporting the controversial act by the Bangladeshi bowler. Aamir described this incident as evidence of the falling standard of umpiring. Mohammad Aamir believes that the bowler forcefully prevented the batsman from entering the crease.
Why is the run out of Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga controversial?
On the fourth ball of the 39th over, Mehdi Hasan Miraz bowled a short-pitched ball to Pakistan batsman Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan slowly placed the ball on the ground. The ball hit the pads of Salman Ali Aga, who was at the non-striker’s end at that time and he struck. Mirage also moved towards his right to collect the ball.
As the ball stopped after hitting the pad, Agha, in a friendly gesture, picked up the ball and handed it to the bowler, who was standing right behind him to receive it. As soon as Miraz got the ball from Agha, he threw the ball on the stumps and shouted for a runout.
The field umpire had to go up to review the incident. According to the rules, when the ball broke the bails, the batsman was out of the crease, hence he was out, run out. Salman Ali Aga was clearly angry at this incident, but had to back down as he had no other option. Agha was out after scoring 64 runs out of 62.
Mohammad Aamir expressed dissatisfaction with umpire call
Mohammad Amir said, “The standard of umpiring is falling day by day. My first question is why did the umpires not pay attention to what happened, even though it was clearly visible in the video? It was poor umpiring and poor standards. You can clearly see that Mehdi Hasan Miraz tried to forcefully stop Salman Ali Aga from going back to his crease.”
“Agha even tried to offer help, and Miraz took that opportunity and ran him out. Maybe it was within the rules, but was it within the spirit of cricket? No. As a leader, you should not use such tactics just to get wickets. My question again is to the umpires, why did they not notice this and not give the advantage to the batsman?” Mohammad Aamir raised questions from the umpires.
Mohammad Aamir further said that in some cases moral integrity must be put before the rules to keep the spirit of cricket alive.
“Even though Miraz thought it was within the rules, sometimes morality and honesty should come before the rules. What happened should never happen again. The umpires are also to blame here, and the spirit of cricket should always live on in this game”, Mohammad Amir said.
Pakistan finally won the match
Meanwhile, tricky action prevented Bangladesh from claiming the match. After scoring 274 runs in the first innings, Pakistan eventually won the match by a huge margin of 128 runs through the DLS method.
With Pakistan as the winner of the second match, the three-match ODI series is tied with the score at 1-1 with one more match left to be played. The winner of the third match will also capture the series.
| matching summary | |||||
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match |
venue | date | pakistan score | bangladesh score | Result |
| 2nd ODI | Mirpur, Dhaka | 13-March-26 | 274 | 114 (23.3/32 overs, t:243) | Pakistan won by 128 runs (DLS method) |
| player of the match | |||||
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player |
Display | ||||
| Maaz Sadaqat (Pakistan) | 75 (46) and 3/23 | ||||
Read more: “They could have done a little better” – Former PCB chief trolls Salman Aga after controversial run out against Bangladesh
