In the second one-dayer between South Africa and Pakistan on Sunday last, Fakhar Zaman scored the highest score in an ODI however many eminent people accused Proteas wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock for ‘tricking’ the Pakistani opener into running out. 

Former Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad has however said that De Kock’s deception was in fact his smartness being showcased.

De Kock has been receiving criticism for his ‘cheap trick’ implemented over Fakhar Zaman however Miandad seemed to think otherwise.

“You can’t get the eyes off the ball,” Miandad declared. “You must love your wicket and runs like a man loves a woman. When you do that, you can’t get run out like this.”

“We also used to do that. I used to pretend that I am throwing the ball to the bowler’s end but would through towards the wicket-keeper to get the opponent run out. That must be considered smart,” Miandad further added.

Wasim Akram also shared a video on his Instagram defending Javed Miandad’s statement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNWS3_Wgg_D/

Wasim Akram captioned his post:

“My humble suggestion to our cricket experts and which genius said about Fakhar’s innings was a fluke please do tell”.

Fakhar Zaman has also recently admitted that it is entirely on him that he was run-out. "Fault was mine as I was busy looking out for Haris Rauf," he confessed.

In the match played between Pakistan and South Africa at Johannesburg, Fakhar Zaman scored his highest score in an ODI (193 off 155 balls). However, Pakistan was defeated by 17 runs due to which Zaman was highly criticized over social media.

During the match, as the opener constituted his second run, the opposing team’s wicket-keeper made a gesture at the bowler which confused Zaman and his stride became slow while going towards the striker’s end. 

Zaman’s instant confusion and slow stride instead of chasing the other side made him run out. 

Pakistan however was not far behind and required only 31 runs to win. Zaman had achieved 90 runs through only 48 deliveries. 

Singer Momina Mustehsan was of the viewpoint that this was an intended deception on De Kock’s part when she tweeted:

“Should it not be wrong to purposely distract/trick a player midplay running to the crease? Sad to see unsportsmanlike conduct... @ICC #FakharZaman #PakVsSA @TheRealPCB”

She further added, “We all should tweet @ICC to ask for a comment. Is 41.5 a valid law? And if it is, was @FakharZamanLive dismissed unfairly? Cricket is loved and played across the globe. It is important to address this incident to keep it from encouraging deception in future plays #PakvsSA @TheRealPCB #AskICC.”