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A controversial non-call from English umpire Richard Kettleborough has split opinions after he seemingly ignored a blatant wide in the lead-up to Indian star Virat Kohli‘s World Cup century.
Kohli was named the player of the match for his unbeaten 103 in India’s seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Pune, but it was the way he got to his 48th ODI century that raised eyebrows.
With the match in India’s hands down the stretch, the focus soon turned to whether Kohli would be able to get his 48th ODI century.
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India needed 28 to win at the start of the 38th over, with Kohli needing 27 of those for a century. That was when he put his foot on the accelerator and began expertly farming the strike so he could reach the milestone.
India needed just two to win off 54 balls when left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed began his over with Kohli on 97 off 94 deliveries.
A boundary or a three would’ve given the former captain his century, while anything less would mean he would be denied like teammate KL Rahul against Australia earlier in the World Cup. Ironically, Rahul was at the other end this time around as Kohli hunted the three figures.
Nasum fired one down the leg side, potentially deliberately in a bid to deny the Indian star, with Kohli looking visibly perturbed as he expected a wide call to come from the umpire. Only it didn’t.
Kettleborough’s call stunned the commentators and was met with laughter in the Indian dressing room.
”I’m a little bit surprised there that the umpire did not signal a wide for this one. Usually that is called. Virat was a little bit desperate,” said former West Indies skipper Samuel Badree.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram defended Kettleborough.
“It was one of those general mistakes. It was a wide ball, sure,” Akram told Pakistani TV network ASports.
“This is for people who have nothing to do, who live off this crap, and then they can go nuts with it.”
Others on social media didn’t share the same view as the legendary fast bowler, who won the 1992 World Cup with Pakistan.
Kohli charged Nasum’s very next delivery, driving the ball down to the fielder placed at long-on, but refused to take a single, before slamming a full toss into the stands to secure what was described as “the perfect finish” by former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar on commentary.
“It gets a little tricky with the spinner,” he said.
“The umpire has allowed that maybe because he left it pretty close to his body. He (Kohli) actually wanted that to be a wide, you could see he moved inside. He wants a situation where they need one and he hits a boundary.”
Following India’s win, Kohli’s teammate Shubman Gill, who was seen laughing with spinner Kuldeep Yadav after Kettleborough’s non-call, was coy on whether Nasum had deliberately bowled a wide.
“I don’t know if he intentionally tried to bowl wide or he was just trying to keep it tight and then went away,” he said.
The win over Bangladesh means India is now second on the World Cup table, sitting behind New Zealand, the only other unbeaten team on Net Run Rate.
One of the two teams’ winning streaks will come to an end on Sunday evening AEST unless rain intervenes during the clash at Dharamsala.
