During a 2022 T20 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh, Virat Kohli was accused of fake fielding by Bangladesh after the India batter feigned a throw on the field.
India's rivalry with Bangladesh has evolved into a rather fierce one over the last decade or so, with matches getting increasingly competitive. It was a similar story at the Adelaide Oval on the night of November 2, 2022.
Both India and Bangladesh were coming into their fourth Super 12s match having registered two wins out of their first three games. A victory would solidify chances of a semi-final berth, while defeat would mean the fate of the losing team would no longer lie in their own hands. The stakes were high. With weather around, it only made the setting more dramatic.
Kohli anchors India
Bangladesh got the toss advantage, as they fielded first. Rohit Sharma struggled his way to a painful two off eight balls, as India suffered another inglorious start to their innings; 11 runs in 3.2 overs as the first wicket fell. Virat Kohli then started settling in, while KL Rahul found his rhythm at the other end. The duo added 67 in six overs before Rahul was dismissed for 50 off 32.
Suryakumar Yadav played a 16-ball cameo of 30, but with the rest of the middle order struggling, it came down to Kohli to give the finishing touches to another T20I innings. R Ashwin's 13 off six helped, as Kohli finished unbeaten on 64 off 44, taking India to a competitive, but far from safe 184-6.
Nahid Rana is the new fast bowler in town. Though he averages 41.09 in his short Test career, he is unlike any cricketer from Bangladesh's history.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 18, 2024
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READ: https://t.co/f1KomyLVB1#INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/2gdGnXOFmi
A flying start courtesy Litton Das
After a quiet first over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar that yielded two runs, Litton Das cut loose. By the second ball of the sixth over, he had reached a 21-ball fifty in a team score of 54. His partner, Najmul Hossain Shanto, batting on three off 11 and probably on a different pitch.
The fake throw by Kohli
India introduced Axar Patel in the seventh over. Litton played a length ball through the off-side and ran for two. As the throw from Arshdeep Singh came back from the deep, Kohli, at point inside the circle, feigned a relay throw. Not many, including the on-field umpires noticed it at the time it happened. The two runs were completed, as was the over four balls later, when rain started pelting down.
Bangladesh were 17 runs ahead of the DLS par score at that point. No further play would have meant that they walked away with two points from the game. As it turned out, the match resumed after around 53 minutes, with the revised target reading 151 in 16 overs.
kohli fake fielding #PAKvSA pic.twitter.com/WQyQgA9A9T
— Danish (@sddanish14) November 2, 2022
Litton's run-out and a collapse
Bangladesh's hopes rested on Litton Das. He seemed to be in one of those zones where you think it's impossible for a bowler to get a batter out. As fate would have it for Bangladesh, Das was run out two balls after play resumed, thanks no less to a direct hit from the deep by KL Rahul.
Bangladesh started losing regular wickets after that as their chase lost steam. The seventh-wicket pair of Nurul Hasan (25 off 14) and Taskin Ahmed (12 off 7) took them close. There were some nervous moments for India, but the five-run margin of victory felt closer than it actually was at the end as Bangladesh finished on 145-6.
The fake fielding accusations and complaints pour in
It was only after the game that chatter around Kohii's fake throw started. Nurul Hasan, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper mentioned it in his post-match chat with reporters. "We all saw that it was a wet ground," Nurul said. "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."
The following day, on November 3, BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus confirmed that the incident was brought to the notice of the umpires during and atfer the game, by Shakib Al Hasan, but the umpires claimed they didn't see it happen real time.
"The fake throw was brought to the umpire's notice but he said he didn't see it," Yunus said. "That's why it wasn't taken to review. Shakib spoke extensively to Erasmus, during and after the match."
Also read: Controversy and comedy: A look back at previous fake fielding incidents in international cricket
What do the laws say?
Law 41.5 deals with "deliberate distraction, deception, or obstruction of batter". According to it, "it is unfair for any fielder wilfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batter after the striker has received the ball."
It further states that if the umpires believe "that a fielder has caused or attempted to cause such a distraction, deception or obstruction", "he/she shall immediately call and signal Dead ball", and five penalty runs would be awarded to the batting side.
Were Bangladesh unlucky not to get the five penalty runs?
While most fans and pundits believed that the feigning of the relay throw by Kohli was obvious, the consensus was less clear-cut on whether it should have resuled in a five-run penalty or not.
While the law does not mention that distraction or deception has to be caused for the penalty to be awarded, and that an attempt to cause a distraction is ground enough for the sanction, it also leaves the interpretation of what qualifies as 'fake fielding' and what doesn't to the umpires.
As it turned out, Bangladesh lost their last group match against Pakistan, and finished fifth out of six teams, while India won their last match against Zimbabwe, qualifying for the semi-finals where they lost against England.
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