India A all-rounder Riyan Parag produced a potentially match-winning spell in the ongoing Emerging Asia Cup 2023 final against Pakistan on Sunday to turn the tide of the match after the Shaheens got off to a spectacular start in Colombo.
Pakistan Shaheens were dominating the proceedings thanks to the opening partnership of 121 between Saim Ayub (59) and Sahibzada Farhan (65) before it was broken by Manav Suthar in the 18th over with the former's wicket which brought Omair Yousuf to the crease.
Three overs later Farhan was run out after he slipped while taking a quick single which dented Pakistan's progress.
Parag then changed the complexion of the match in the 28th over when he got rid of Yousuf and Qasim Akram in successive deliveries to leave Pakistan in trouble at 183 for 4.
Parag first caught and bowled Yousuf on 35 and then had Akram hole out at deep mid-wicket with a half-tracker for a first-ball duck.
Parag's catch to dismiss Yousuf however, raised quite a few eyebrows as the ball seemed to be touching the ground in real time. It was referred upstairs to the TV umpire who looked at multiple replays before he was convinced that it wasn't a bump ball.
The umpire thought there was enough evidence to suggest that Parag had his fingers underneath the ball and therefore, gave it OUT.
But Pakistan fans on social media thought otherwise and expressed their disappointment on Twitter.
One of the users even brought Harmanpreet Kaur into the topic after her rant against the umpires in the Women's ODI series between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka on Saturday.
Kaur was given out LBW by the on-field umpire but she wasn't happy with the decision and smashed the stumps with her bat.
She also hurled a few expletives in the direction of the umpire before calling the decisions "pathetic" in the post-match presentation after the third ODI ended in a tie and the series finished with a 1-1 scoreline.
