Shakib al Hasan's dismissal made controversies as the third umpire gave him out leg-before wicket, despite replay clearly showing that he had nicked the ball.
This is not the first-time umpire Langton Rusere, who was the third umpire for the Bangladesh-Pakistan game, made headlines in this tournament as, just a day before the Zimbabwean officiated a five-ball over for Afghanistan against hosts Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide provided a thrilling twist in Group 2 Sunday morning when the Netherlands defeated South Africa by 13 runs and thus put this group into an interesting state as both Bangladesh and Pakistan got a chance to qualify for the semi-finals.
The equation was straight for both teams - winners will qualify for the semis and losers go home.
It was a golden opportunity for Bangladesh as they never reached the last four of a World Cup before.
Bangladesh elected to bat first, which was a good toss to win.
The Bangladesh-Pakistan match was being played on the same pitch where the Dutch battled the Proteas.
So a total of around 150 would have been very tricky for the chasing team and Bangladesh were on course to getting to that mark at one point.
Although Liton Das got out scoring 10, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar formed a 52-run partnership for the second wicket to give Bangladesh a good start.
But in the 11th over, the turning point of the innings happened as Soumya and Shakib were dismissed off consecutive deliveries.
Soumya departed in the fourth ball of the over while trying to play a reverse sweep.
In the very next ball, Shakib was adjudged leg before wicket and his unfair dismissal was the major talking point as it changed the whole complexion of the match.
Bangladesh's batting can be divided into two parts.
The first segment comprised fluent batting before Shakib's dismissal and the other after his departure when a batting collapse led to a moderate total.
The incident happened in the fifth ball of the over.
The Bangladesh captain charged down the ground against leg-spinner Shadab Khan and it hit his toes.
The umpire had a good look at it and raised his finger but Shakib went for a review immediately.
Shakib was confident and didn't even bother consulting Nazmul Hossain Shanto at the other end knowing himself that he had hit the ball.
The TV replay showed there was a spike in the snickometer when the ball went past Shakib's bat.
As the replays continued to roll back and forth it looked clear there was a space between Shakib's willow and the ground.
But the third umpire Rusere stated that the noise had come from Shakib hitting the ground with his bat.
The third umpire went on to check whether the ball was going on to hit the timber.
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The replay indicated that the ball would have hit the stumps and eventually the third umpire stayed with the on-field decision and Shakib was given his marching orders.
Confusion was also created as Shakib was outside his crease and the ball would have had to travel around three meters in order to hit the stumps.
Shakib was in disbelief and he didn't want to leave, standing in the middle of Adelaide Oval speaking with the umpires.
He was confident of having hit the ball and a few Bangladesh players were seen speaking with an umpire on the sidelines as well.
But since the decision had been made, Shakib had to leave the field in disappointment and the Tigers skipper was visibly frustrated after such a decision.
Fans watching on and Bangladesh fans in the stands simply couldn't believe what they had just seen unfold.
The third umpire's decision that led to Shakib's dismissal created discussions among cricket analysts, including former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody who tweeted, “This is when you need the 4th umpire to step in and debate the decision before the wrong one is made! #PAKvBAN #ICCT20WorldCup2022 #umpires”.
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra also tweeted that it was clearly a wrong decision from the third umpire. Chopra tweeted, “Shakib's bat didn't touch the ground at all. Just focus on bat's shadow. There was a spike. It couldn't have been anything else except the ball hitting the bat. Bangladesh at the receiving end of a poor umpiring decision. #PakvBan #T20WorldCup.”
The moment was vital for Bangladesh as, from 73/1, they were suddenly 72/3.
Shakib is the most experienced batsman for the Tigers and losing his wicket in a crunch game halted the momentum.
With that said, this kind of decision can happen in a cricket match and losing one key wicket does not mean the whole batting order will collapse.
Also Read: Shanto terms batting unit responsible for defeat
Bangladesh's lower middle-order was not able to maintain the momentum as they finished their innings on just 127 runs losing eight wickets.
Bangladesh's second last game in the Super 12 stage against India also created much discussion as Tigers vice-captain Nurul Hasan told the media that they had appealed for “fake fielding” attempt from Virat Kohli just before the rain break.
Shanto informed the umpire immediately but the officials said they did not notice anything.
However, it was seen in the TV replay that the incident took place right in front of the umpire but they had not noticed it.
ICC laws state that the batting team will be awarded a five-run penalty if umpires report any fake fielding incident.
During the rain break same allegation was raised to the umpires but they repeated that they had not noticed anything.
Bangladesh eventually lost the match by five runs and later the fake fielding incident became a matter of heated discussion.
And in the game against Pakistan, Shakib's dismissal in that way definitely hampered Bangladesh's momentum and proved costly in the end.
It should not be counted as an excuse for Bangladesh's loss as the batsmen following should have scored runs to build a good total on the board, but the quality of umpiring in a crunch match like this certainly raises questions.
And third umpire Rusere had enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision and usually benefit of the doubt goes to batsmen, but his controversial final decision leaves a bad taste in the mouth and will no doubt remain a talking point in Bangladesh cricket in the coming years.