Explained: Virat Kohli 'fake fielding' row and what are the laws

The T20 World Cup clash between India and Bangladesh went down to the wire in Adelaide on Wednesday before the Men in Blue held their nerves and clinched a win by 5 runs (D/L Method) eventually. India’s performance however has been overshadowed by Bangladesh wicket-keeper batter Nurul Hasan’s claims after the match that have sparked controversy. Hasan has accused Virat Kohli of “fake fielding”.

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What Nurul Hasan said?

“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.”

Nurul Hasan has claimed that the on-field umpires had missed an incident of “fake fielding” from Virat Kohli, which could have resulted in five potentially crucial penalty runs for Bangladesh!#INDvBAN #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/naWCVnCfbg

— Thimira Navod (@ImThimira07) November 3, 2022

What actually happened?

During the seventh over of the Bangladesh innings, Litton Das guided a delivery from Axar Patel to the deep on the square of the offside. Arshdeep Singh who was stationed at the position threw it back to the wicket-keeper’s end. But as Arshdeep threw the ball back, Kohli who was standing at point- feigned a shy at the stumps.

On the fake fielding incident, the truth is that nobody saw it. The umpires didn’t, the batters didn’t and we didn’t either. Law 41.5 does make provision for penalising fake fielding (the umpire still has to interpret it thus) but no one saw it. So what do you do!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 3, 2022

How does the Law work?

The MCC law, which pertains to unfair play, prohibits “deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of [the] batter”. If an incident is deemed a breach of the law by the umpires then they declare that particular delivery as a dead ball and award the batting team five runs.

Here’s the whole law:

41.5 Deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of batter

41.5.1 … 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.

41.5.6 The bowler’s end umpire shall Signal No ball or Wide to the scorers, if applicable, award 5 Penalty runs to the batting side, inform the captain of the fielding side of the reason for this action and as soon as practicable inform the captain of the batting side.

41.5.7 The ball shall not count as one of the over.

41.5.8 Any runs completed by the batters before the offence shall be scored, together with any runs for penalties awarded to either side. Additionally, the run in progress shall be scored whether or not the batters had already crossed at the instant of the offence.

41.5.9 The batters at the wicket shall decide which of them is to face the next delivery.

41.5.10 The umpires together shall report the occurrence as soon as possible after the match to the Executive of the offending side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain, any other individuals concerned and, if appropriate, the team.

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