Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz defended himself over running out Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha in the second ODI of the three-match series in Dhaka on Friday. The dismissal sparked a row on social media with several fans questioning the sportsman’s spirit. The incident happened during Pakistan’s batting innings on the fourth delivery of the 39th over. The Bangladesh spinner was bowling to Mohammad Rizwan, and it was then that the batter played the ball towards the right of the bowler.
Mehidy tried to stop the ball with his boot. On the other hand, Agha, the non-striker, found himself out of the crease. He was in Miraz’s way and was spotted trying to hand the ball back to the spinner. However, Mehidy stepped right in and threw the stumps down in an underarm attempt.
The decision was left to the TV umpire, and upon seeing Agha out of the crease, the official ruled him out, leading to tempers flaring. The Pakistan T20I captain then threw his gloves and helmet in disgust and also said a word or two towards the Bangladesh camp. The dismissal also brought out an angry reaction from Ramiz Raja, who was on commentary, as he questioned the sportsman’s spirit and the lack of it.
At the post-match presentation, Mehidy said that if he had missed the ball, Agha would have definitely gone for the run, and this was the main reason he was running him out.
“He was away from the wicket, and I was just looking for the ball. If you miss, he would go for the run. So I was just thinking like that,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Pakistan level the three-match series
Speaking about the second ODI, Pakistan won by 128 runs under the DLS method. Bangladesh’s batting innings was reduced to 32 overs, with the host being asked to chase 243 instead of 274 as set by Pakistan in the first innings.
However, Bangladesh folded up for 114 with Haris Rauf and Maaz Sadaqat taking three wickets apiece. Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss on Friday and opted to field.
Pakistan posted 274 runs on the board owing to valuable contributions from Sadaqat (75), Agha (64) and Rizwan (44). The series decider between the two teams will now be played on Sunday, March 15.
The opening ODI was won by Bangladesh by eight wickets. Pacer Nahid Rana skittled Pakistan for 114 with the career-best figures of 5-24. The hosts then chased the total down in less than 100 balls.
