Cricket Drama: Referee's Wrong Call Causes Uproar in India-Pakistan Match

Colombo (The Uttam Hindu): The high-voltage Women's World Cup 2025 match between India and Pakistan began with a major controversy. During the toss, the match referee made a significant mistake, resulting in the toss being awarded to Pakistan despite the toss being in India's favor. The entire incident was captured on video and is now going viral on social media.

Actually, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur tossed the coin. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana called 'tails'. However, match referee Shandre Fritz and presenter Mel Jones mistakenly declared the call as 'heads'. The coin also landed 'heads'. According to the rules, if the call was announced as 'heads' and the coin landed 'heads', the toss should have gone in India's favour. But the referee made a big mistake and awarded the toss in Pakistan's favour. After this, Pakistani captain Fatima Sana immediately decided to bowl first, while Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur probably did not notice this mistake due to the noise.

In international cricket, such a mistake is considered a major blunder. It is the responsibility of the match referee and presenter to listen and report the correct call. Although the Indian captain did not object, the video has raised serious questions about the role of the match officials.

The match has now begun amid this controversy, and the Indian team is batting first. It is expected that the controversy will escalate further after the match.