Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha’s dismissal during the second ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur has ended up drawing far more reactions than the match itself. Agha was run out by his Bangladesh counterpart Mehidy Hasan Miraz in a rather peculiar fashion, with the impact of the incident exacerbated by the fact that it had brought to an end a seemingly chanceless 109-run partnership between him and Mohammad Rizwan.
It remained Pakistan’s best partnership of the match and Agha had to walk back on 64 off 62 balls. The 32-year-old has found support in former India batsman Mohammad Kaif, who said on his X handle that kids should never do what Miraz did.
“This is so not done. No desperation of getting wickets can justify this run out. That too from a captain. Youngsters please remember, even if the World Cup final is on the line never do what the Bangladesh skipper did. Sports without fair play is no sports,” said Kaif.
This is so not done. No desperation of getting wickets can justify this run out. That too from a captain. Youngsters please remember, even if the World Cup final is on the line never do what the Bangladesh skipper did. Sports without fair play is no sports.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif)
Agha was left fuming on Friday, first throwing the helmet on the ground when the umpire sent the decision upstairs to the third umpire. Miraz delivered the ball to Rizwan who hit it down the ground off his backfoot, towards the right of the bowler. Mehidy got around the non-striker Agha to try and stop the ball with his boot. Salman, leisurely started reaching back for the crease with both hands on the bat before, just as bizarrely, proceeding to pick the ball up to hand it back to the bowler. Miraz swooped in himself and with an underarm throw, knocked the bails off.
In fact, there is a chance that even if Miraz hadn’t picked the ball up and broken the stumps and the former had finished the action of throwing it back to the bowler. According to rule 37.4, pertaining to ‘Obstructing the Field’ mode of dismissal, “Either batter is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he uses the bat or any part of his person to return the ball to any fielder.”
