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Dubai
Former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi has again made some controversial remarks after India defeated Pakistan in their second bout against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025. Afridi has raised questions over the dismissal of Pakistan’s opening batter Fakhar Zaman who was given out caught behind on Hardik Pandya’s bowling.
A lot of the former Pakistani players have revealed that they feel Fakhar was not out as the ball bounced right in front of Indian wicket-keeper Sanju Samson, before going into his gloves. Afridi, however went one step further and said that the umpire decided to give the decision in India’s favour as he also intends to do umpiring in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“Unhone IPL me bhi toh umpiring karni hai [He has to umpire in the IPL too],” Afridi said, hinting that the umpire was biased towards India.
Former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yusuf, who was also a part of the panel discussion alongside Afridi, had a similar point of view stating that the third umpire didn’t check all the angles. He even pointed out that Fakhar was looking in good touch and his wicket was important for the Indian team.
“They didn’t even check many angles. Fakhar had hit three fours and handled Bumrah with ease in the first over. His wicket was crucial for India,” Yusuf asserted.
One of the greatest pacers from Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar directly declared that Fakhar wasn’t out and the umpires had made the mistake. He pointed fingers at the third umpire for not checking all the angles before giving the final verdict.
“Fakhar wasn’t out. With 26 cameras available, why did the third umpire only check two angles? If Fakhar had stayed, the match might have turned,” Akhtar said.
