During the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday (September 21), Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal became the talk of the town. The Pakistan opener was removed by Hardik Pandya in the third over of the game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Fakhar looked in good touch as he took down Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik in the first couple of overs. However, Hardik had the last laugh as he dismissed the southpaw for 15 runs.
However, Fakhar’s wicket stirred a controversy and the left-hander wasn’t one bit pleased with the third umpire, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, who adjudged him out.
Fakhar Zaman edged a delivery from Hardik to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson. The on-field umpire ruled him out, but the Pakistani batter hung around and the decision was deferred to the TV umpire to check whether the catch was clean.
The ball appeared very close to the ground before going into the gloves. Palliyaguruge saw replays from multiple angles and eventually came to a conclusion that the catch was fair, as the fingers were underneath the ball.
Fakhar though was left livid with the verdict as he shook his head while walking back. The cameras also caught Pakistan coach Mike Hesson fuming with the decision.
In the post-match press conference, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha also questioned Fakhar Zaman's dismissal, citing possible umpire error.
“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," Agha told reporters.
“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," he added.
Coming to the match, Pakistan suffered a humiliating six-wicket defeat at the hands of India and they are now facing a must-win situation in the remaining Super 4 games to stay alive in the tournament.
Asked to bat first, the Men in Green posted 171/5 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of Sahibzada Farhan’s half-century (58 off 45) and Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten cameo (20* off 8).
In reply, the Indian opening duo of Abhishek Sharma (74 off 39) and Shubman Gill (47 off 28) took the Pakistani bowling attack to the cleaners, sharing a fiery 105-run stand to propel the defending champions over the line with seven deliveries to spare.
