Nurul Hasan claims the umpires missed Virat Kohli’s “false fielding,” which may have resulted in five important penalty runs for Bangladesh.
Litton Das played Axar Patel’s ball deep off-side in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s chase at Adelaide Oval. Kohli, standing at point, feigned bashful as Arshdeep Singh threw the ball. Umpires Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown did nottake action, and Bangladesh hitter Najmul Hossain Shanto didn’t point it out.
Nurul discussed the event after the game.
Nurul: “We observed the moist ground.” “Eventually, there was a false throw. Five-run penalty was possible. But even that didn’t work out.”
Law 41.5 prohibits “deliberate distraction, deceit, or obstruction of [the] batter.” If a breach occurs, the umpire can declare that delivery a dead ball and give the batting side five runs.
Arshdeep’s throw from the deep passed by Kohli’s right hand at the same time he signalled a relay throw. ESPNcricinfo believes the real-time ruling is about trying to confuse the batters, not deceiving them.
Umpiring was in the spotlight during India’s close win over Bangladesh. Kohli signalled a no-ball after top-edging a pull towards square leg, believing Hasan Mahmud had bowled two bouncers in his over.
Erasmus supported Kohli’s gesture and stood between him and Shakib Al Hasan, who had emerged from the covers. After 90 seconds, the two players hugged and left.
The second incident occurred when umpires approached Shakib near the dugout about resuming play after a rain break at the end of the seventh over, with Bangladesh leading by 17 runs on DLS.
Shakib knelt by the boundary to sample the damp outfield before talking to officials. Shakib’s heated motions suggested he was not happy with the conditions.
Shakib didn’t elaborate in the postgame press conference.
ESPNcricinfo has contacted Bangladesh’s team management about all three incidences.
