‘Unhone IPL me bhi to umpiring karni hai’:Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar cry foul; blame umpires for Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal

After questioning the calls made by match referee Andy Pycroft in the first India vs Pakistan game at the Asia Cup, former Pakistan legends have now turned toward the third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge after the India vs Pakistan Super 4 encounter on Sunday. It was regarding the controversial dismissal of Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman, who was caught out by wicketkeeper Sanju Samson behind the stumps on video review, with allegations of the ball landing in Sanju’s hands after a single bounce. Now, former Pakistan cricketers have passed sharp remarks on the incident. ‘Unhone IPL me bhi toh umpiring karni hai’- Shahid Afridi Taking a sharp dig at the third umpire, Ruchira Palliyaguruge and questioning his video review of Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal, ex-Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi said on Samaa TV: Unhone IPL me bhi toh umpiring karni hai [He has to umpire in the IPL too]. Another former cricketer, Mohammad Yusuf, added: “They didn’t even check many angles. Fakhar had hit three fours and handled (Jasprit) Bumrah with ease in the first over. His wicket was crucial for India.” ‘Majaal hai ki widwicket pe camera dekh le’- Shoaib Akhtar Before Shahid Afridi, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar had passed a sharp judgment on the third umpire’s call in the Super-4 matchup as he stated on state-run Pakistan TV, “Fakhar wasn’t out. He should have been given the benefit of the doubt. Majaal hai ki widwicket pe camera dekh le (Did they dare look at the mid-wicket camera angle?).” “Otherwise, the cameras show the whole stump, but in this case, they could not find an angle? Why couldn’t they get an angle? With 26 cameras available, why did the third umpire only check two angles? If Fakhar had stayed, the match might have turned. The third umpiring level was questionable. It clearly looks like the ball touched the grass. His palms are not on the ground fully. The ball has weight too,” Akhtar further added on PTV. What exactly happened? The Pakistan team and former cricketers from the nation have been criticising the decision from Palliyaguruge to give Fakhar Zaman out after Sanju Samson caught him off a slower delivery from Hardik Pandya in the third over of the Pakistan innings. The ball had edged Fakhar’s bat, and Samson had dived ahead to catch the ball. After watching the reviews from a couple of angles, Palliyaguruge had sent back Fakhar. It was a crucial wicket since Zaman had hit 15 of Pakistan’s 21 runs at that time. Even skipper Salman Ali Agha highlighted the TV umpire’s decision to give Fakhar out in his customary report to match referee Andy Pycroft and the Umpires and Referees manager. Agha also spoke about the decision in the press conference: “Umpires can make mistakes. 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 power play, 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.”
Former Pakistan cricketers were less forgiving.