The fuss around the fake fielding incident created by Bangladesh wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan can only be put to rest by stating the laws which are made to deal with such incidents. India's star player Virat Kohli is at receiving end of the allegations.
In a close-fought encounter, Bangladesh fell five runs short of the target after it got revised following rain and DLS method come into play.
What Is The Matter?
Kohli's act during Bangladesh's run chase has been called a fake fielding incident which happened just after the resumption of the game in the seventh over.
On the field, it didn't appear to be the case of fake fielding as apart from Kohli no one was aware of it and it didn't affect the batters who were running between the wickets.
In fact, on-field umpires are the only concerned authority to indicate for a penalty in fake fielding incidents. In the case against Bangladesh, standing umpires Marais Erasmus and Chris Brown failed to catch what Kohli did because it didn't affect the flow of the game and nor did the batters got distracted by it.
What Is Bangladesh's Allegation?
"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," Nurul Hasan told reporters.
What Does The Rule Say?
Cricket's Law 41.5, pertaining to unfair play, prohibits the "deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of [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.
Does Virat Kohli's Act Come Under Fake Fielding?
By looking at the videos available on social media, which went viral, it doesn't look like an act of deliberate distraction or deception of the batters as while running between the wickets Bangladesh batters were looking at their respective ends. However, the final decision had to be taken by the onfield umpires in real-time and in this case, it went unnoticed so Kohli's act can attract mixed reactions from fans and former cricketers.