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South Africa legend Graeme Smith shut down iconic India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who claimed that Pakistan lost their 2023 Cricket World Cup fixture against the Proteas because of poor umpiring in Chennai.
During the fag-end of the contest, Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf struck Tabraiz Shamsi in front of the wickets. However, umpire Alex Wharf reckoned that the ball was sliding down the leg side and declared him not out.
Immediately, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam asked for a review.
However, the replays showed that the ball would have only clipped the leg stump, meaning it was the umpire's call, which in this case was not out.
It came as a shock to Pakistani players, considering it looked plumb to the naked eye. More importantly, the ball Haris Rauf bowled pitched in line and struck Tabraiz Shamsi below the knee roll, yet he survived.
The one reason behind the ball drifting to the leg side could be Haris Rauf's angle. As he was delivering his balls from the outer part of the crease, his incoming balls seemed to be moving way outside the leg stump.
The one reason behind the ball drifting to the leg side could be Haris Rauf's angle. As he was delivering his balls from the outer part of the crease, his incoming balls seemed to be moving way outside the leg stump.
As the umpire's call saved Tabraiz Shamsi, he and Keshav Maharaj kept their nerve to see South Africa home.
On the other hand, the Pakistani cricketers were distraught as not only did they lose the match by a wicket, but their fate in the competition.
The loss against South Africa was Pakistan's fourth in succession in the Cricket World Cup, leaving their chances of qualifying for the semis in tatters.
Against this backdrop, Harbhajan Singh pointed out that “bad umpiring” was behind Pakistan's defeat at the Chepauk Stadium.
“Bad umpiring and bad rules cost Pakistan this game,” Harbhajan Singh wrote on the microblogging platform. “International Cricket Council (ICC) should change this rule. If the ball is hitting the stump that's out whether umpire gave out or not out doesn't matter. Otherwise, what is the use of technology???”
But the former India spinner's words were not appreciated by the ex-South Africa skipper Graeme, who underlined that a similar incident happened with Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen, who was given out under controversial circumstances by the DRS.
Harbhajan Singh kept mum on that episode, which angered Graeme Smith.
In response to Harbhajan Singh's allegations, Graeme Smith asked: “Bhajji, I feel the same as you on umpires call, but Rassie van der Dussen and South Africa can have the same feeling?”
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam refused to blame the DRS for his team's defeat.
“Yes, to be honest. We were very close but disappointed not to finish on the winning side. We fought back very well. In the batting we, were 10-15 runs short. But the way we bowled was good. The spinners and the pacers were brilliant,” Babar Azam said in the presentation ceremony.
“To be honest, it's part of the game. If the umpire had given OUT, it would have favored us. It's Umpire's Call on the DRS and we have to take it.”
“We showed great fight and took the game to the last over. If we had won this game, we would have kept ourselves alive in the competition. We will try our best in the next three matches. We will look to be at our best and play for Pakistan,” he stressed.
Former Pakistan pacer Aqib Javed and veteran fast bowler Mohammed Amir were critical of Babar Azam's captaincy before demanding that he should be replaced with a new skipper.
“Pakistan Cricket Team needs a new captain after World Cup who can bring aggression in the players. I will recommend Shaheen Afridi who took such decisions in PSL which an ordinary player like Babar Azam cannot even think of,” Aqib Javed said on Suno News.
“He has been the captain for the past four years, and there is no improvement. Fast bowlers were getting reverse swing in Chennai, and he brought back the spinners. Nothing has changed in his approach since Day 1,” Mohammed Amir summed up.
With Pakistan almost out of the race for the semifinals, coach Mickey Arthur warned against a witch-hunt against the players and the team management.
“It's really unfair to start a witch hunt, certainly on Babar Azam, on Inzi, on our coaches, on the management team,” Mickey Arthur told reporters.
“What I do know is the boys have tried and the effort of the coaching staff, the effort of the players has been first-class. If they would see that the amount of effort that the players and staff put in, they would be amazed,” he added.
“Tonight is a totally different feeling in that dressing room to the Afghanistan game. The Afghanistan game was… we were average in all departments. Tonight, we were OK with the bat, I thought we were very good with the ball. I'm really proud of those (players) because they fought right to the bitter end,” Mickey Arthur emphasized.
“We always set ourselves up to have one of your top four in at over 40. You talk about the success that we've had over the last year; we've had one of our top four generally getting hundreds. We've had two hundreds this competition so far, both in the same game. So, we've had players get in. We've had players get starts. We haven't had players go through,” the Pakistan team director noted.
“I don't think we managed the last five overs particularly well tonight. There was still, at one point, in the 45th over, I remember saying to the dressing room a run a ball gets us 295 and a little bit more we've got us 300,” he elaborated.
“I know we would have defended 300 tonight. So, I don't think we managed that back end particularly well at all. And we left balls out there that we didn't face,” Mickey Arthur concluded.
