Let’s go—another series, another loss. Bangladesh has beaten Pakistan in the ODI series, winning it 2–1. So maybe it’s not a win, but once again Pakistan gets another chance to “learn.” (You know the meme: either you win or you learn, with Rizwan’s score 😅)
But amid this “learning,” a big controversy has also erupted.
Here’s what happened:
In the third ODI played in Mirpur, the Pakistan team lodged a complaint with match referee Niyamur Rashid regarding an umpiring decision. Pakistan claims that on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena incorrectly allowed Bangladesh to take an LBW review.
According to the Pakistan team management, Bangladesh took the review after the ball’s replay had already been shown on the stadium’s big screen.
Let’s understand the entire incident.
The event is related to the last two balls of the match. At that moment, Pakistan needed 12 runs from 2 balls to win.
A delivery from Rishad Hossain went past Shaheen Shah Afridi toward the leg side, and the umpire signaled it wide.
After that, the Bangladesh players discussed among themselves and then took a review for LBW.
And this is where the controversy began.
Pakistan alleges that the Bangladesh captain appealed for the review only after the replay showing the ball passing close to the bat was displayed on the big screen. According to the rules, the decision to take a DRS review must be made by players without any external assistance or by watching TV footage.
Pakistan also argued that the 15-second time limit for taking a review was not followed. However, the broadcast did not display any timer, making it unclear whether the 15-second limit had actually been exceeded.
In the DRS, Hawk-Eye showed that the ball had touched the lower part of the bat before passing. As a result, the wide decision was overturned.
Although Bangladesh’s LBW review was ultimately rejected, the removal of the wide changed the scenario. Pakistan now needed 12 runs from the last ball.
On the final delivery, Shaheen Afridi was stumped, and Bangladesh won the match by 11 runs, sealing the 2–1 series victory.
