Mehidy Hasan Miraz breaks silence on debated run-out of Pakistan's Agha

MIRPUR: Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz addressed the fuss around the run-out involving Pakistan's Salman Ali Agha during the second ODI of the three-match series here at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.

The unusual incident occurred in the 39th over of Pakistan's innings when Bangladesh skipper Miraz bowled a flatter delivery, which Mohammad Rizwan nudged back.

The ball spun and rolled directly towards Salman Agha, who was stationed at the non-striker's end. The Pakistan all-rounder initially attempted to dodge the ball, which, however, was intercepted by Miraz through his right foot.

As the ball came to a stop, Agha bowed down to hand it back to Miraz, who instead seized the opportunity, collected it and swiftly broke the stumps, leaving Agha stranded and run out.

Miraz's move did not sit well with Pakistan's T20I captain, who later displayed his frustration by throwing his gloves and helmet into the ground as he made his way back to the pavilion.

The dismissal has since then become a point of debate among cricket fans on social media, some of whom questioned whether it was in the spirit of the game since Agha did not intend to run.

Meanwhile, Miraz has finally shared his "thinking" behind the dismissal, insisting that if he had missed the target, Agha would have run for overthrows.

"He was away from the wicket, and I was just looking for the ball. If you miss, he would go for the run. So I was just thinking like that," Miraz said at the post-match presentation.

Following Agha's controversial, Miraz removed another set batter, Rizwan, in the same over, which triggered a collapse in Pakistan's batting unit, which lost five more wickets for just 43 runs in the next 51 deliveries and were thus bowled out for 274.

In response, the home side could accumulate 114 before getting bowled out in 23.3 overs and thus succumbed to a gruelling 128-run defeat as per the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

Reflecting on his team's performance in the recently concluded rain-hit fixture, Bangladesh captain Miraz stressed the need for improvement in the batting department as he rued their failure to execute, particularly in the first 10 overs.

"We didn't execute well in the first ten overs, which we did the last time. It's a very good wicket to bat on, but our top-order batters didn't get many runs," Miraz stated.

"We have to improve our batting and need to take more responsibility."