Danish Kaneria lauds 'street smart' Quinton de Kock for running out Fakhar Zaman

Former cricketer Danish Kaneria has backed wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock after he was criticised for his role in the controversial run-out of Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman during the second ODI at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday. 
Giving further clarification on the incident, Kaneria went on to say that QDK did not break any rules and instead was street smart in making bully of the southpaw.

'Quinton de Kock was too smart': Danish Kaneria

"Quinton de Kock, and, Fakhar Zaman's debacle (controversial run out) has been the talk of the town recently. While some say that the ICC rules have been violated by Quinton de Kock as he obstructed as well as distracted the batsman", said Danish Kaneria on his official YouTube channel.

The Karachi cricketer then read out the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rules and mentioned that since the stumper did not distract the batsman, the law is not applicable to him.  He then added that even the umpires did not notice any of these things and so, they did not tell Quinton de Kock that he was wrong and asked Fakhar Zaman to come back because the umpires themselves are very alert. Neither the third umpire nor the match referee had raised any kind of objections on this issue. 

Furthermore, the 40-year-old added that after Zaman had taken a quick single and turned back for a second run, the Proteas gloveman had come towards the wicket and pointed at the bowler Lungi Ngidi who was standing at the bowling end to catch the ball and that he was urging Aiden Markarram to throw the ball towards the bowler but Markarram was too smart and threw it towards the wicket-keeper's end where Fakhar Zaman was running and he made the mistake of looking back to ensure whether Haris Rauf was not getting run out at the other end and in the process, not only did he end up losing his wicket but also missed out on his 200. 

"According to me Quinton de Kock was too smart in making a bully of Fakhar Zaman and ended up getting him run out", the veteran spinner added.

Watch the video here:

The run out that denied Fakhar Zaman a deserving double century

The incident happened during the final over of the contest that was bowled by Lungi Ngidi. On the very first delivery, the frontline pacer had bowled a fuller delivery on the offside as Zaman drilled it to long-off. He successfully completed the first run but then came back for a risky second run. Nonetheless, keeper Quinton de Kock tricked the opening batsman into believing that the ball being thrown by the fielder from the long-on position was going to the non-striker’s end, leading him to turn behind and watch his partner. Zaman slowed down as he turned behind to see if his partner had reached the crease and that is when the stumper cashed in on the opportunity as he quickly collected the ball and whipped off the bails as the in-form batsman had no choice but to take a long walk back to the pavilion.

The Proteas registered a 17-run win to level the three-match series 1-1. 

(Image Courtesy: @DanishKaneria61/@TheRealICC/Twitter)