After a nail-biting contest between India and Bangladesh, which was filled with tension, emotion, and of course, some exhilarating cricket from both teams, a controversy has erupted. While Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan stood firm and maintained the match was played in good spirits and that there was no malice from their side, however, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan didn’t maintain the same emotion. He expressed his disappointment about the ‘wet outfield’ but more significantly, he accused India’s Virat Kohli of ‘fake fielding’ during the Bangladesh innings and added that the five penalty runs could have made all the difference.
Following their narrow five-run loss against India, Nazrul Hasan accused Virat Kohli of ‘fake fielding’ in the seventh over of his side’s chase. He claimed that the on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown missed the incident.
Well, what happened was, in the seventh over of the chase, when Bangladesh was batting Litton Das played a shot towards the deep off-side and as Arshdeep Singh sent in the throw, Virat Kohli, standing at the point faked a shy on the stumps. It went unnoticed by the umpires and the players as well. Speaking about the same incident, Nazrul said:
“Certainly the field was wet and it had an impact and everyone saw that and eventually what I felt is that when we were talking there was a fake throw and it could have been a five-run penalty and that could have gone our way but unfortunately even that didn’t come,”
Watch the video here:
Meanwhile, a full-fledged debate has kickstarted on social media with several cricketers and experts coming up with their opinion on the matter. Among many, popular Indian commentator and cricket analyst, Harsha Bhogle also joined the bandwagon and came up with an interesting take on the matter.
In his Tweet, Harsha Bhogle explained what happened on the field and shared a message for Bangladesh’s fans. He wrote: “On the fake fielding incident, the truth is that nobody saw it. The umpires didn’t, the batters didn’t and we didn’t either. Law 41.5 does make provision for penalising fake fielding (the umpire still has to interpret it thus) but no one saw it. So what do you do!”
He added: I don’t think anyone can complain about the ground being wet. Shakib was right when he said it should favour the batting side. The umpires and curators have to keep the game going till it is not possible to do so. And they handled it very well so that minimum time was lost
So, for my friends in Bangladesh, please don’t look at fake fielding or wet conditions as a reason for not reaching the target. If one of the batters had stayed till the end, Bangladesh could have won it. We are all guilty of it….when we search for excuses, we don’t grow.”
Check out the Tweet:
On the fake fielding incident, the truth is that nobody saw it. The umpires didn’t, the batters didn’t and we didn’t either. Law 41.5 does make provision for penalising fake fielding (the umpire still has to interpret it thus) but no one saw it. So what do you do!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 3, 2022
