Mehidy Hasan Miraz defends himself for running out Salman Ali Agha in BAN vs PAK 2nd ODI — ‘If you miss, he would…’

Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz has opened up on the run-out controversy involving himself and Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the second ODI between the two teams in Dhaka on Friday.

In the 39th over of Pakistan's innings, Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan played towards the right of Mehidy, the bowler, and just as he was about to collect the ball, he collided with Salman Agha. By this time, Salman was already out of the crease, and before he could get back to safety, Mehidy quickly collected the ball and threw it towards the stumps with an underarm throw.

Cricket fans on social media were quick to criticise Mehidy Hasan Miraz and question his sportsmanship spirit. Once Mehidy appealed for the dismissal, the on-field umpire sent it towards the third umpire for referral. The third umpire, on seeing Salman out of the crease, gave him out.

Salman was dismissed for 64 runs from 62 balls, hitting seven fours and two sixes. His knock, along with contributions from Maaz Sadaqat (75) and Mohammad Rizwan (44) helped Pakistan post a total of 274. In their reply, Bangladesh were in trouble at 27/3 in 6.3 overs when lightning and rain stopped play in Dhaka.

After more than an hour's delay, the match resumed with Bangladesh being set a revised target of 243 from 32 overs. However, barring a 58-run stand between Litton Das and Towhid Hridoy for the fourth wicket, there was nothing much Bangladesh could do as they collapsed for 114 in 23.3 overs.

The win helped the visitors level the series 1-1. The third and final ODI will also be played in Dhaka, on Sunday.

This is not the first time when controversy has erupted among Bangladesh cricketers. During their 2023 ODI World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Delhi, Angelo Mathews was dismissed “timed out”, the first-ever time a player was dismissed in such a fashion in international cricket.

While Mathews walked out to bat on time, his helmet strap broke, and he requested for a replacement. However, noticing that Mathews had taken more than two minutes to get ready to face his first ball, then then Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan appealed for a timed-out dismissal, and Mathews was dismissed.

As per ICC’s rules, a batter must get ready to face his first ball within two minutes since the previous dismissal. However, Mathews took longer than that and was punished for the error.