During the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) pursuit of the 147-run target against Pakistan in the Group A clash of the Asia Cup 2025, an unfortunate incident involving the on-field umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge happened in Dubai. In the powerplay stage, the Sri Lankan umpire was hit on the side of the head by a wayward throw from Pakistan wicket-keeper Mohammad Haris before he was seemingly in a bit of pain while rubbing the injured area of the body.
The physio of the Pakistan cricket team arrived at the scene to check the condition of Ruchira Palliyaguruge, to make sure that he is okay, but moments later, the on-field umpire got taken off as a precautionary measure. The throw from Mohammed Haris was lobbed up rather than let go with any velocity towards
the all-rounder Saim Ayub, who was in the midst of his over, and that’s why, the Sri Lankan umpire was able to walk off the field all by himself.
Watch the video here:
The fourth umpire Gazi Sohel, who hails from Bangladesh, took the spot of Ruchira Palliyaguruge on the field as per the ICC protocol, to ensure that the Asia Cup 2025 contest continues. As of this writing, the UAE have reached 66/3 in 11 overs, still needing a further 81 runs in nine overs to win the match and qualify through to the Super 4 round alongside India from Group A, at the expense of Pakistan, who will bow out of the tournament in that case.
Below are the playing XIs of Pakistan and the UAE for their Asia Cup 2025 clash:
UAE: Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Waseem (c), Asif Khan, Muhammad Zohaib, Harshit Kaushik, Rahul Chopra (wk), Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Simranjeet Singh, Junaid Siddique
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Khushdil Shah, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
