Agha on Fakhar dismissal: 'It did look like it bounced ahead of the keeper'
Pakistan have made their dissatisfaction over Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal against India in the sides’ Super Four game in the Asia Cup known to the match officials. Following the game, in the captain’s customary report to match referee Andy Pycroft and the Umpires and Referees manager, Pakistan shone a spotlight on the TV umpire’s decision to declare Fakhar caught by the wicketkeeper off a slower delivery from Hardik Pandya. Sanju Samson dived forward to complete a catch, one that was only confirmed after the on-field umpires sent the decision to the TV umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge.In the post match press conference, on Sunday night Pakistan captain Salman Agha also took slight issue with Fakhar’s dismissal, saying it “did look like it bounced ahead of the keeper”. Fakhar, promoted up the order to open the batting, got Pakistan off to a brisk start, scoring three boundaries in his first eight balls and speeding to 15.Hardik had rolled his fingers over the ninth delivery, and the deviation drew an outside edge from Fakhar. But with little pace on the ball, Sanju Samson had to reach forward to get his gloves underneath the ball. Feeling satisfied he had done so, India went up in appeal. The TV umpire had a couple of looks at the replay before deciding the catch was cleanly taken, and that the ball had bounced in the gloves rather than just in front.Related
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Post-match, Agha guardedly disagreed. “Umpires can make mistakes,” he said. “But it did look like it bounced ahead of the keeper to me. I might be wrong. The way [Fakhar] was batting, if he had batted through the powerplay, we would probably have scored 190. But those are calls for umpires to make. To me, it looked like it bounced before the keeper. I might be mistaken, but so might be the umpire.”At the time, the dismissal did little to halt Pakistan’s momentum. While Saim Ayub couldn’t score at the same rate, Sahibzada Farhan at the other end sped along to a 34-ball half-century as Pakistan darted to 55 in the powerplay and 91 in the first ten, both Pakistani records against India.”The batting was a lot better today, and that’s a positive,” Agha said. “The way our start was, we could have scored 15 more. But when the ball goes soft after ten overs, it’s not as easy to bat. But we didn’t bowl as well in the powerplay and got punished. But our start should have ensured we scored 180.”Ultimately, Pakistan finished with 171 after India’s bowlers came back strongly following the drinks break. The subsequent seven overs produced just one boundary and 38 runs, the lowest for any side in that phase all tournament. India made short work in pursuit, reaching 100 without loss in the ninth over, and ultimately coasting to a six-wicket win. During that time, Mohammad Nawaz put down a sharp chance Shubman Gill provided, while Farhan palmed one off Abishek over the rope for six.”Bowling or batting, we look to play the perfect game,” Agha said. “To win, you have to excel in all three facets of the game. We didn’t field well or start well with the ball. We have to forget this game because we have one the day after tomorrow. We’re looking forward to delivering a better performance there.”