Virat Kohli accused of 'fake fielding' during Bangladesh-India WC match

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman has claimed that the on-field umpires had missed an incident of “fake fielding” from Indian player Virat Kohli, which could have resulted in five potentially crucial penalty runs for Bengali Tigers.

The claim came after Bangladesh were denied five crucial runs in a five-run loss to India on Wednesday night in an important encounter of the T20 World Cup at Adelaide, Oval.

The incident took place in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s chase, when Litton Das was playing confidently. Virat Kohli could be seen pretending to field a throw from an outfielder while Bangladesh batters were running between wickets – an apparent attempt to deceive Das into thinking the ball wasn’t going to his end.

The act of Kohli 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.

Nurul Hasan mentioned the incident while talking to reporters after the game.

Hasan claimed the umpires were informed about the incident, but no action was taken. With Bangladesh eventually losing by five runs, fans were left fuming that Kohli’s actions went unnoticed and five penalty runs weren’t awarded.

ICC’s rule

The ICC moved to outlaw ‘fake fielding’ some years ago, with a five-run penalty to be incurred by the fielding team.

ICC rules state: “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.”