Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things differently and gone for sportsman spirit after his controversial run-out during the second ODI against Bangladesh on Friday, March 13. The dismissal triggered debate around the Spirit of Cricket. The incident unfolded in the 39th over as Pakistan were building a steady partnership between Agha and Mohammad Rizwan after Bangladesh chose to bowl first. Rizwan nudged the fourth delivery to the bowler’s right, where Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz moved across in his follow-through and stopped the ball with his boot, colliding with Agha at the non-striker’s end.
With the ball stopping near them and Agha briefly outside his crease, the batter appeared to bend down to pick it up and hand it back. Miraz reacted quickly, collecting the ball and underarming it onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end while Agha was still short of his ground.
Miraz appealed immediately, prompting on-field umpire Tanvir Ahmed to refer the decision upstairs. The TV umpire ruled Agha out after confirming the ball remained in play, and the batter had not grounded his bat behind the crease.
Agha, who scored 64 off 62 balls, looked unhappy with the decision and exchanged words with Miraz. The situation briefly heated up as Litton Das joined the discussion before Rizwan stepped in to calm things down.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said at the press conference. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha said that he went to pick the ball thinking that it would have been called dead after it hit his pad and bat.
“Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
The batter also said that his altercation with Litton was in the heat of the moment and he regrets his reaction to the whole situation.
“It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment. I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
DID AGHA PATCH UP WITH MIRAZ?
When asked if he had patched up with Miraz after the incident, Agha said he will in due course.
“I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him,” said Agha.
Despite the controversy surrounding the dismissal, it didn’t affect Pakistan’s performance on the field, as they went on to win the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
