T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli accused of CHEATING through ‘fake fielding’ by Bangladesh, here’s WHY

After losing the match, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan has claimed that the on-field umpires missed an incident of ‘fake fielding’ from Virat Kohli, which could have resulted in five crucial penalty runs for Bangladesh.

Screengrab of Virat Kohli's fake fielding against Bangladesh in their Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup 2022.

Former captain Virat Kohli was in the centre of controversy once again after Team India’s thrilling 5-run win (DLS method) over Bangladesh in their Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Adelaide on Wednesday (November 2). Kohli was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ for his brilliant 64 not out off 44 balls – his third fifty of the tournament – but it was his act on the field which is drawing plenty of attention on social media.

After losing the match, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan has claimed that the on-field umpires missed an incident of ‘fake fielding’ from Kohli, which could have resulted in five crucial penalty runs for Bangladesh.

The incident Hasan was talking about took place in the 7th over of the Bangladesh innings, when Litton Das played the ball towards the deep off-side field off Axar Patel. As Arshdeep Singh sent in the throw, Kohli, who was standing at point, feigned a shy as the ball was going past him. At the time, it went unnoticed in the field, as the on-field umpires – Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown – didn’t take action, and the Bangladesh batters – Najmul Hossain Shanto was the other – didn’t point it out either.

“We all saw that it was a wet ground. 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,” Nurul Hasan said after the match

According to Cricket’s Law 41.5, pertaining to unfair play, it is prohibited to ‘deliberately distract, deceive, or obstruct the batter’, and if an incident is deemed to be a breach, the umpire can declare that particular delivery as dead ball, and award the batting side five runs.

Watch Virat Kohli’s FAKE FIELDING vs Bangladesh here…

@imVkohli was spotted distracting a #Bangladeshi batsman by doing "fake fielding" As per the law, #India was supposed to be given 5 runs penalty for such a shameful act by Kohli. The on-field umpires didn't even care to recheck and instantly denied taking any action.#INDvsBAN!! pic.twitter.com/2qc4bU9NC8 — Nayon Sorkar #ClimateJustice (@NayonSorkarBD) November 2, 2022

Following his side’s 5-run defeat against India, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said that it is a familiar scenario all the time when they play against Men-in-Blue as they fall short in a close match. The fifties from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and good spells by bowlers helped India clinch a 5-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-curtailed clash of Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Adelaide on Wednesday.

“It’s been the story when we play against India, we are almost there but we don’t cross the finish line. Both teams enjoyed it, it was a great game and that’s what we wanted. In the end, someone has to win and someone has to lose,” Shakib Al Hasan said in a post-match presentation.

In a rain-curtailed 16-over match, Litton Das lit up Bangladesh’s chase with his 60 coming of 27 balls but the batter could not to guide his team home. “He’s (Litton Das) our best batter going around. The way he batted in the powerplay gave us a lot of momentum and gave us the belief that we could chase this with the short boundaries here,” he added.

(with ANI inputs)