After India secured a tense five-run victory over Bangladesh in Group 2 Super 12 match in Mens T20 World Cup at Adelaide Oval, wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan accused talismanic batter Virat Kohli of fake fielding during the match, claiming that the umpires missed the incident and could have resulted in the opposition getting crucial five runs as penalty.
The incident that Hasan talked about going unnoticed took place in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s chase when Kohli feigned a throw while standing at point, as if he was relaying a throw coming from Arshdeep Singh from the deep off the bowling of Axar Patel.
Neither the on-field umpires, Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown, spotted it, nor did the two Bangladeshi batters, openers Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto, out in the middle, pointed it out.
“We all saw that it was a wet ground. Eventually, when we talk about these things, there was also a fake throw. It could have been a five-run penalty. That also could have gone our way, but unfortunately, even that didn’t materialise,” said Hasan to reporters in the mixed zone after the match ended.
Law 41.5, pertaining to unfair play, prohibits the “deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of (the) batter”, and if an incident is deemed to be a breach, the umpire can declare that particular delivery as dead ball, and award the batting side five runs.
But Hasan didn’t mention if either of Das or Shanto spoke to him or to the team about distraction or deception from Kohli pretending to throw the ball to the keeper.
Coming to the match, fifties from KL Rahul and Kohli (64 not out off 44 balls), along with Suryakumar Yadav’s 16-ball 30, took India to a massive 184/6 in 20 overs. Bangladesh seemed to be cruising to the target of 185 with Das making a stunning 27-ball 60 as they reached 66 for no loss in the first seven overs.
But a 50-minute rain interruption meant Bangladesh’s target was changed to 151 in 16 overs as per the DLS method. Bangladesh could make only 79 runs in the remaining nine overs, losing six wickets and ending up at 145/6 in 16 overs, losing the game by five runs.
