Finance
Batting on 97, India superstar Virat Kohli looked set to complete his hundred in the World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh on Thursday. However, Bangladesh’s left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed all but threw a spanner in Kohli’s plan by delivering a ball down the leg side. While it looked like a wide delivery, umpire Richard Ketlleborough refused to signal the extra run, pouring cold water on the Bangladesh spinner’s plans. In the process, the umpire did lend a ‘helping hand’ to Kohli’s century, with the moment leaving the entire Indian dressing room in splits. Kohli reached his hundred via a six on the third delivery of the same over.
India only needed 2 runs to win the match while Kohli needed 3 more to reach the triple-digit score. The India star was determined to complete his century, and the plan even saw KL Rahul denying certain singles during the course of their partnership.
As Bangladesh tried to ease India’s run-chase by delivery wide and prevent Kohli’s ton, the umpire pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Even Kohli looked disappointed with the bowler’s intent but the umpire seemed to have had his back.
Bangladesh stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was also asked in the post-match press conference if it was the team’s plan to deny Kohli a ton. He replied saying, “No, no. There was no such plan. It was a normal plan. No bowler had the intention to bowl wide ball. We tried to play a proper game. What was the other one? Tamim batted very well. I think it didn’t go well for him for the last few innings but the way he batted today was very good. But the team expects a bigger innings from him. So, I hope he will play a bigger innings in the future if the opportunity comes.”
Even India’s Shubman Gill played down the chatter around the subject
“I don’t know if he intentionally tried to bowl wide or he was just trying to keep it tight and then went away,” said Gill.
Had the umpire called the delivery wide, leading to Kohli missing out on a ton, the entire subject would’ve triggered a huge controversy.
