Pakistan raises complaint over last-ball LBW review in third ODI

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has filed an official complaint with match referee Neeyamur Rashid regarding a controversial decision in the third ODI in Mirpur. According to Pakistan, the LBW review taken by Bangladesh in the final moments of the match was not conducted according to the rules and was taken after the delivery’s replay had been shown on the big screen at the stadium.

ESPNcricinfo reported that the Pakistan team management believes Bangladesh decided to take the review after seeing the replay on the big screen. They claim that normal protocols were not followed in this instance.

The incident occurred at the very end of the match, when Pakistan required 12 runs off the last two balls to win. Rishad Hossain delivered a flighted ball on leg stump, which spun down the leg side. The ball passed Shaheen Shah Afridi’s bat, and on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena called it a wide.

After a brief discussion, Bangladesh opted to take an LBW review. To the naked eye, it appeared that the ball had not struck any part of Afridi’s body or foot, making the decision to review a surprising one.

Under standard protocols, a decision to take a review must be made before any replays are visible to the players, to ensure the replay does not influence the decision. However, Pakistan claims that because the big screen at the stadium showed the ball passing the bat, Bangladesh may have been influenced when deciding to take the review.

Another concern raised by Pakistan is whether the review was taken within the mandatory 15-second window. No timer was shown during the broadcast, so it could not be independently verified whether Bangladesh reviewed within the allowed time.

The reason for Afridi’s visible frustration became clear once the DRS went to Hawk-Eye. The technology showed that the ball had clipped the bottom of his bat, meaning it could not have been a wide.

Although Bangladesh lost the LBW review, the umpire’s wide decision was overturned. As a result, Pakistan required 12 runs off the final ball.

On the last delivery, Afridi was stumped. In frustration, he swung his bat over the stumps after being dismissed. Bangladesh secured an 11-run victory and won the series 2–1.

It is not yet clear what action the PCB expects from the match referee. However, it is believed that they are seeking at least an official acknowledgment that an error occurred in the decision-making process.

This is the second time in consecutive matches that Pakistan has felt aggrieved by a controversial decision. In the second ODI, Salman Ali Agha was run out after stepping out of his crease while returning the ball to Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

During that incident, Agha expressed his frustration by throwing his bat and gloves. As a result, he was penalized with a demerit point and a 50% match fee fine for breaching ICC’s code of conduct. In the same incident, Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz was fined 20% of his match fee.