Asia Cup 2025: [Watch] Umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge is hit on his head, leaves the field halfway through the collision of Pak vs Uae

Sri Lankan referee Ruchira Palliyaguruge was trapped in the middle of an unhappy incident in the crucial group A match between Pakistan and the VAE in the 2025 Asia Cup in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, on Wednesday 17 September.

The incident happened in the second innings of the meeting while the VAE chased a 147-run target. After the fifth ball of the fifth, the fellow player lobed the ball back to the bowler, Saim Ayub. Palliyaguuge, however, let his back to the ball and it caught him on his head. Fortunately the ball was not thrown by violence, but he stuck anyway.

The Pakistani players rushed in to check the veteran referee. Ayub removed the Palliyaguruge hat before Pakistan’s physio came to the middle and checked it. It seemed that a concussion test was performed. Palliyaguuge finally decided to leave the field and preferred the area around his left ear.

Reserve referee, Gazi Sohel van Bangladesh, stepped in for Palliyaguuge for the rest of the game, where Pakistan victor came with 41 runs.

Watch the video below:

Earlier in the competition, Pakistan 146/9, after Fakhar Zaman scored a brilliant 50 out of 36 balls, hit two four and three sixes. Shaheen Shah Afridi has also contributed with a Quickfire 29* from 14 balls to help Pakistan cross the 140-run marking. Junaid Siddique was the choice of the bowlers for the VAE and ended with figures from 4/18 in four overs.

In response, the VAE came a considerable start and added 19 runs in the first pair of overs. However, the Pakistani bowling unit, especially the spinners, brakes the brakes and continued to build the pressure on the batters of the VAE. Rahul Chopra scored top with a Run-A ball 35, but the batters of the VAE could not rotate the battle and the required run speed continued to climb. Eventually the home team was threw over for 105 in 17.4.

Shaheen, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed fell two wickets each for the men in the green. The first was appointed player of the game for his all -round heroicdades. With this victory, Pakistan joined India in the super-four stage of the tournament.

Receive all cricket updates! Follow us: