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Fresh video evidence confirms third umpire rightly gave Fakhar Zaman out, vindicates Sanju Samson’s spot-on catch
New evidence showed that India wicketkeeper Sanju Samson's catch was spot-on and that Fakhar Zaman was rightly given out.
The India-Pakistan face-off on Sunday in the Asia Cup 2025 witnessed a controversial moment early in the game when batter Fakhar Zaman was given out in the third over of the match. The Pakistan player was livid at the call and was even seen complaining on his way back to the dressing room, and experts from his country agreed that it wasn't out and that the umpire was hasty in his verdict. However, new evidence showed that India wicketkeeper Sanju Samson's catch was spot-on and that Fakhar was rightly given out.
The incident happened on the third ball of the third over after Pakistan was put to bat first in the Super Four clash at the Dubai International Stadium. Fakhar, looking to play on the offside against the off-cutter from Hardik Pandya, produced an outside edge as the ball went straight towards the keeper. Samson dived slightly and clutched it cleanly, but with the ball so close to the ground, the on-field umpires referred it to the third umpire. After careful scrutiny from multiple angles, the third umpire upheld the appeal, giving Fakhar out, leaving him stunned as he slowly made his way back to the pavilion.
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The likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Misbah-ul-Haq disagreed with the decision. While the legendary fast bowler dared the ICC to show footage from all 26 camera angles, the former captain felt the umpire had rushed his call. Both, however, were convinced that the ball had touched the ground before reaching Samson’s gloves.
However, fresh footage posted on social media showed Samson’s gloves were indeed beneath the ball, confirming it was a clean catch. The zoomed-in clip clearly vindicated the third umpire’s decision.
Salman Ali Agha disagrees
Earlier, Pakistan captain Salman Agha had questioned the legality of the catch that dismissed Fakhar and disrupted Pakistan's momentum.
"I don't know about the decision. It's obviously the umpire's job. Umpires can make mistakes. And I have no problem with that. But it does look like it bounced before it was carried to the keeper," he said in the presser after India beat Pakistan by six wickets.
"But I might be wrong. I don't know. You can say the way he was batting, if he batted throughout the powerplay, we probably would have scored 190. But yeah, that's the umpire's call. And they can make mistakes. I don't know. To me, it bounced before it reached the keeper."
