South African wicketkeeper and batsman Quinton de Kock is being criticised, following his ‘deceptive act’ which led to the dismissal of Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman who was about to score his second double century in the second One Day International played on Sunday.

In the second ODI, Pakistan were chasing 342 and lost five wicket while scoring 120 in 25 overs until Fakhar Zaman took over the game and tried shifting it in Pakistan’s favor but at the end he was dismissed as a result of a direct hit by Aiden Markram.

Zaman needed just seven more runs to add his second double century in his career ( a milestone for any Pakistani cricketer) as he scored 193 runs off 155 balls. South Africa defeated Pakistan by 17 runs and leveled the three-match series by 1-1.

“While completing the second run, Zaman thought the throw was going to the bowler’s end but the throw, instead, was at the keeper’s end which led to his dismissal. Meanwhile, De Kock faked a bit by pointing at the bowler as if the ball was going to him. This made Zaman slow down in his second run and contributed towards his departure from the crease,” Cricket Pakistan said in its report.  

A strict action should be taken against such cheap act
The man was just 7 runs away from his 2nd century #fakharzaman #SAvPAK #QuintondeKock #pcb #shameful_act_by_Quinton pic.twitter.com/d4FN5yNrHb

— Mariam Anwar (@MariamAnwar10) April 4, 2021

Cricket fans have taken social media by storm to call out the ‘fake fielding’ attempted by the South Africa wicketkeeper.

@QuinnyDeKock69 its not a funny, its shameless moment for you. First he smashed Record breaking inning and you distract to player, which is completely against the ICC rules & Regulations. @ICC should take the strict action against you.#fakharzaman#fakharzamanlive #QuintondeKock pic.twitter.com/NCfRPpmmuR

— Jaleel Rathore🇵🇰🇹🇷🇲🇾🇦🇿 (@jaleelrathor) April 5, 2021

According to the laws of International Cricket Council (ICC), it is stated in Law 41.5.1 (Deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of batsman): “It is unfair for any fielder willfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball.”

The Law further states that it depends on Umpire’s decision who is empowered to inform both captains and award a 5-run penalty to the guilty side, but it was not the case at Wanderers on Sunday.

However, responding to his Sunday’s dismissal, Fakhar said that he didn’t think it was Quinton’s fault.

“The fault was mine as I was too busy looking out for Haris Rauf at the other end as I felt he’d started off a little late from his crease, so I thought he was in trouble. The rest is up to the match referee, but I don’t think it’s Quinton’s fault.” Zaman added (quoted by ESPNcricinfo).

Zaman further said that he didn’t regret not getting the double century instead “regret losing the match”.