Asia Cup 2025: Pakistan lodge complaint over Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal
DUBAI: Pakistan men’s cricket team’s management has filed a formal complaint to the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the controversial dismissal of their top-order batter Fakhar Zaman during the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 match against India.
According to the sources, Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema approached match referee Andy Pycroft to protest over the decision, but when informed that the matter was beyond a referee’s authority, he escalated the plea to the umpires’ manager. The incident occurred on the third delivery of the third over of Pakistan’s innings when Fakhar nicked an off-cutter by Hardik Pandya, but the low pace forced wicketkeeper Sanju Samson to lean forward to collect the ball.
As the ball was close to the ground while approaching Samson, the on-field umpire referred the decision to the third umpire, while Fakhar stood confidently. However, after analysing from different angles, third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge deemed Fakhar out, who stood around briefly, visibly confused, before starting to make his way back. Upon reaching the Pakistan team’s dressing room, Fakhar was also seen talking to head coach Mike Hesson, presumably expressing astonishment at the decision.
The decision did not sit well with fans and former Pakistan cricketers, including Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir and Fawad Alam, who slammed the umpiring standards in the blockbuster contest. “Seems like we are playing against 14, not 11. Fakhar was clearly not out!” Alam wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Fakhar was not out that’s the tweet,” Amir said. Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Hafeez urged Pakistan to play ‘A+ game’ to beat India and on-field umpiring.
“Team Pakistan need to play A+ game to beat team India & on field Umpiring,” Hafeez suggested on X. Later, in the post-match press conference, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha also expressed his reservations about the decision. “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. Web Desk
