According to ICC rules, it is an offense for fielders to conduct themselves in such a way as to distract the batsman by speech or gesture while the batsman is running.
It has been alleged that Indian player Virat Kohli engaged in fake fielding during the T20 World Cup cricket match against Bangladesh yesterday.
In the 7th over of Arshdeep Singh, Bangladesh player Liton Das was bowled towards Akshar Patel. When the ball went past Virat Kohli, who was standing fielding, he pretended to catch the ball without actually catching it and ‘throw’ to the wicketkeeper. The field umpires did not notice this at the time. This is the current controversy. Bangladeshi fans point out that Virat Kohli’s actions are against ICC rule 41.5. Many people are raising criticism regarding these rules. A diversion has taken place in the field. Netizens are commenting that it is not acceptable that the referees did not take the right decision
The issue of Kohli’s alleged fake fielding was raised by Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan after the match. Speaking at the press conference, he said, “As punishment for this, we could have given 5 runs to our team. It would have ended in our favor. But unfortunately it didn’t happen,” he said. “Perhaps if 5 runs had been awarded for this, the result of the match would have changed. It is noteworthy that in this match, the Bangladesh team had lost by 5 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
What does the ICC regulation say?
According to ICC Rule 41.5.1, it is an offense to deliberately induce a batsman to distract, deceive, cross or obstruct a batsman while he is running, fielders distract the batsman by speech or gesture. 5 runs should be awarded to the batting team as penalty. Did the diversion happen or not? ICC rules state that only the arbitrator can decide and make the decision. But it seems that no action was taken on the field as the umpires did not notice this.
Also Read: Fake Fielding Issue… Whose Side Is Wrong? Commentator Harsha Bhogle explains!