The close finish raised questions about whether the game was resumed before the outfield could be sufficiently dried up
Published : 02 Nov 2022, 09:51 PM
The Bangladesh camp is bemoaning not being awarded a fake fielding penalty after complaining about it as India earned a nervy 5-run win in a rain-curtailed contest at the T20 World Cup.
Chasing 185 to win, opener Litton Das was off to a flier with Nazmul Hossain Shanto at the other end and galloped away to 66 for no loss in 7 overs.
But rain swept in and shortened the innings to requiring 151 to win off 16 overs, still 85 runs shy of the target with 9 overs in hand at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
However, after Litton’s blazing 27-ball 60-run knock was cut short by a direct throw from KL Rahul, Bangladesh suffered a collapse and lost their momentum, never really recovering again despite valiant efforts from Nurul Hasan Sohan and Taskin Ahmed.
The close finish raised questions about whether the game was resumed before the outfield could be sufficiently dried up.
But skipper Shakib Al Hasan made no complaints at the post-match interview.
In the mixed zone after the game, Sohan, who remained unbeaten on 14-ball 25, said: “We’ve all seen how wet the ground was… a fake throw also took place, which could have resulted in five runs for us as penalty. But it wasn’t awarded.”
However, Sohan was unable to point out when exactly the incident occurred. Sources in the Bangladesh team mentioned it had happened during the seventh over of the innings bowled by spinner Axar Patel.
According to them, Shanto, who was in the middle during the incident, complained to the umpire immediately but the officials turned down his appeal saying they did not notice any such offence.
The skies began pouring after the over and Bangladesh team’s technical consultant Sridharan Sriram went up to the umpires to raise the issue again but the decision was not changed.
The ICC in 2017 introduced the fake fielding penalty, which comes into effect when a fielder fakes a throw without picking up the ball. The gesture confuses the batsman and creates a possibility of a misunderstanding between the batters running between the wickets, leading to a run out.
The ICC law states: “it is unfair for any fielder wilfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball”.
If any of the umpires identify any such occurring, a Dead Ball is declared along with 5 runs being awarded to the team at the receiving end.
“It is for either one of the umpires to decide whether any distraction, deception or obstruction is wilful or not,” a clause in the law says.