Out or not out? Saud Shakeel caught behind on 94, fans not happy with 3rd umpire’s call in 2nd Test vs England
Joel Wilson #JoelWilson
As the 2nd Test between Pakistan and England in Multan was heading towards a thrilling climax on Day 4, a DRS controversy erupted after middle-order batter Saud Shakeel was adjudged caught behind at the stroke of Lunch. Shakeel was leading the charge for Pakistan with a solid knock in the first session of the Multan Test but Mark Wood did the damage, picking up the wickets of 2 well-set batters.
Pakistan were cruising towards a record-breaking victory with an 80-run stand between Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Nawaz. Chasing 355, Pakistan lost Faheem Ashraf early on Day 4 but Shakeel and Nawaz steadied the ship, negating the spin threat early in the day. However, James Anderson and Mark Wood came back for a late spell before Lunch as captain Ben Stokes changed things up.
First, it was Faheem Ashraf who was cramped for room as he edged Mark Wood’s short delivery down the leg to wicketkeeper Olie Pope. In the final over of the session, Wood cramped Shakeel with a similar line and a faint edge flew towards the wicketkeeper down the leg-side. Shakeel, it seemed, knew he had edged the delivery.
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Even as Wood led the England appeal, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Marais Erasmus got together and had a chat before sending the decision to the third umpire. Even though the two were not sure of the decision, the soft signal was ‘Out’.
Third-umpire Joel Wilson had a long look at the replays even as the ball, at one point, looked like it had touched the ground. Another angle suggested that Ollie Pope had got his gloves wrapped around the ball.
“Looks like the gloves are under it, but I can’t tell exactly,” Wilson said. However, the decision on the big screen was ‘OUT’ as there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the soft signal.
Saud Shakeel looked distraught as he was dismissed for 94, 6 short of a well-deserved hundred.
England gained the upper hand as Pakistan lost two set batters at the stroke of Lunch. Agha Salman and spinner Abrar Ahmed were unbeaten on 0 when the two teams headed to the break.
Pakistan, at Lunch, were reduced to 291 for 7, needing 64 more runs to victory. Pakistan will concede an unbeatable 2-0 lead to England if they go on to lose the Test in Multan.
England went 1-0 up on their first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years after winning a run-fest in Rawalpindi last week.
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