Virat Kohli accused of ‘fake fielding’ by Bangladeshi wicket-keeper© Twitter
Following India’s five-time win over Bangladesh via DLS method in a Super 12 match of the 2022 T20 World Cup on Thursday, controversy erupted after vice-captain Nurul Hasan claimed on-field referees missed a “wrong throw” by Kohli, who this might have tied the match. “It could have been a five-run penalty,” he told reporters. “That could have gone our way, but unfortunately… that didn’t happen.” The incident happened in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s innings just before the rain ended the game when Liton Das played the ball towards Axar Patel’s deep offside field. As India’s Arshdeep Singh threw the ball back, Kohli – standing on point – faked a throw as the ball whistled past him.
Referees Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown took no action, despite the pointing out of Liton and non-batting batsman Najmul Hossain, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official told AFP.
So what does the ICC law say about fake fielding?
According to ICC Law 41.5.1, “It is unfair for a fielder to intentionally attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or interfere with a batsman after the batsman has received the ball.”
The law further states that “each of the umpires shall determine whether or not any distraction, cheating or interference is intentional” and “if any of the umpires believe that a fielder has caused or attempted to cause such a distraction, cheating or interference or interference, he/she must immediately call and call dead ball and inform the other umpire of the reason for the call.” The law further states that in such a case “the bowler’s end umpire shall award the batting side 5 penalty points”.
The International Cricket Council is due to hold a board meeting in Melbourne next week during the tournament and Bangladesh will raise the matter “if an opportunity arises,” BCB cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told AFP.
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“We will discuss the issues wherever we have the opportunity,” he added. “It’s not a protest because there’s no benefit in doing it now.”
With AFP inputs
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