Virat Kohli’s ‘fake fielding’ could have cost India the match against Bangladesh: What do the rules say?
1 min read 03 Nov 2022, 10:30 AM ISTIndia could have lost the match against Bangladesh due to Virat Kohli’s alleged ‘fake fielding’.
PremiumAt the T20 World Cup on November 2 night, Virat Kohli scored another game-winning knock to defeat Bangladesh. However, he is now charged with an unsportsmanlike act that, if the on-field umpires had seen it, might have resulted in the loss of the game. The on-field umpires, according to Bangladesh wicket keeper Nurul Hasan, missed an instance of "fake fielding" by Kohli that might have resulted in five potentially-significant penalty runs for Bangladesh.
During the second innings, rain fell more heavily than was anticipated in Adelaide. While grounds staff promptly covered the wicket table, the outfield was becoming sodden. Some people criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) for cancelling the Australia vs England match last week due to the "slippery outfield", yet allowing India and Bangladesh to resume play after the rain delay.
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Bangladesh opener Litton Das, who had a stunning start of the run chase, hit a ball from Axar Patel down to deep backward point during the seventh over of the innings. Arshdeep Singh caught the ball and lobbed it back into the striker's end, limiting Das to just two runs. Even though the ball was going over his head from the deep, Kohli - positioned at point and halfway in from Arshdeep, pretended to throw the ball at the non-end. Striker's
What do the rules say?
Players are forbidden from "the deliberate distraction, deception, or obstruction of the batter" according to Cricket Law 41.5. If the incident is found to have violated the regulation, the umpire has the authority to award the batting side five penalty runs and declare the ball dead. This law was put into place because fielders were purposefully appearing to have the ball in order to deceive the batsmen and stop them from making additional runs.
If on-field umpires Chris Brown and Marais Erasmus had believed that Kohli’s actions were an attempt to intentionally deceive the batter, Bangladesh would have been awarded five penalty runs. The decision, however, must be decided by the umpires in real-time.
