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Pakistan captain Salman Agha cried foul over Fakhar Zaman's dismissal as he believes that the ball may have bounced on the ground before landing in wicketkeeper Sanju Samson's gloves. When Samson claimed the catch of Zaman, there was no side-on angle available which would have helped third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge get a clearer picture. Hence, on the basis of two angles shown to him, he adjudged Zaman out.
"I don't know about the decision. It's obviously the umpire's job. Umpires can make mistakes. And I have no problem with that. But it does look like it bounced before it was carried to the keeper," Salman said in the post-match press conference after Pakistan’s six-wicket defeat to India at Dubai Cricket Stadium.
Salman is not sure whether the decision would have gone Pakistan’s way had the other angle been available. He feels that the way Zaman was batting, Pakistan would have reached 190 instead of 171.
"But I might be wrong. I don't know. You can say the way he was batting, if he batted throughout the powerplay, we probably would have scored 190. But yeah, that's the umpire's call. And they can make mistakes. I don't know. To me, it bounced before it reached the keeper," he added.
Zaman was dismissed by Hardik Pandya with a slower ball. Promoted to the opening spot in place of Saim Ayub, he scored 15 runs from nine balls, including three fours.
Agha happy with target set, defends Pakistan batters
Agha defended the batting lineup as they could not carry on the momentum of the first half into slog overs. He believes that the target they set for Suryakumar Yadav-led side wasn't below par even though they could have scored 180-plus. To back his point, he said that Indian batters struggled in the middle too after openers departed.
"It wasn't a disappointing total, but we should have scored 10-15 more runs. After 10 overs, when the ball gets soft, it is not easy to score runs in this venue. But the start we had, we should have scored 180 plus," Agha said.
"Wickets are such that it is not easy for a new batter to come and play shots straight away. So, a set batsman should go till the end. Indian batters also felt it hard to read the pace of the wicket. We lost two set batters in that phase and it derailed our momentum."
Who will Pakistan face next?
After a defeat against India, Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in their next Super Fours game. The must-win clash will take place on September 23 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka lost their first match of Super Fours stage as well. Bangladesh beat them in a thrilling encounter that went to the last over.
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