Imran Tahir catch controversy vs PAK: WATCH umpire rules Tahir’s superlative effort as not-out

Imran Tahir catch controversy vs PAK: The third umpire’s decision has come under the scanner one again in this tournament.

During the 30th match of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between Pakistan and South Africa at Lord’s, veteran South Africa leg-spinner was denied a catch by the third umpire. The decision ended up becoming another source of debate with respect to umpiring in the ongoing tournament.

It all happened on the second delivery of the 12th over when Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman pulled a Chris Morris delivery to deep square leg. Tahir, who was fielding at deep square leg, ran to his front and eventually dived to grab the catch.

Known for his celebrations, the 40-year old cricketer went on a celebratory run. In what came as a massive development was the on-field umpire giving the soft signal as “not out”.

Once the decision was sent to the third umpire with such a soft signal, concrete evidence was needed to rule the decision in Tahir’s favour. With the third umpire not convinced of the same, Zaman ended up surviving the appeal.

The decision was followed by Tahir going back to his fielding position in a disappointed manner. The decision also invited several responses with respect to the umpire’s verdict.

Imran Tahir catch controversy vs PAK:

How Twitter reacted:

Soft signal in the spotlight again – was Imran Tahir’s catching effort fair or flawed?

Ball-by-ball: https://t.co/EEAKldShlu
Live report: https://t.co/gAfbQEFgou#CWC19 #PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/ScU4UAN3De

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 23, 2019

Seen so many more catches where it’s looked more doubtful and the soft signal has been Out by the umpires and over here it looked clean and the main umpires have gone not out with the soft signal.. Why can’t the third umpire over turn it..strange #SAvsPAK

— Kartik Murali (@kartikmurali) June 23, 2019

Why give soft signal if you are referring it to third umpire let me take the call if it’s out or not . soft signal 😡🙄 https://t.co/0M1RBPT4Wl

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 23, 2019

Not too sure if #SoftSignal is a great move !! It only adds to the confusion and ambiguity !! Once refered it should be left to the third umpire !! It’s pointless to have a third umpire with a soft signal given by the on-field umpire !! #icc

— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) June 23, 2019

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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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