What's the 'Fake Fielding' row eclipsing India vs Bangladesh at T20 WC? What did Kohli do?

India and Bangladesh locked horns against each other in their fourth match of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 on Wednesday. India won the match by 5 runs (D/L method), courtesy of some brilliant fielding and bowling by the Men in Blue. However, an incident has eclipsed the interesting match between the two sides with Bangladesh player Nurul Hasan claiming Virat Kohli was involved in 'fake fielding' and that his team deserved five penalty runs, indirectly accusing the umpires of overlooking the incident. 

Hasan talked about the incident in the post-match press conference saying that there was a fake throw that could have gotten them five crucial penalty runs but they were deprived of the same as umpires allegedly overlooked the matter. "Definitely, the wet outfield did have an impact when we restarted the game. But there was also a fake throw which could have got us five runs but we didn't even get that," Hasan was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI. 

Did Virat Kohli distract batsman during tense victory over Bangladesh? 

The incident that Hasan is talking about occurred in the seventh over of Bangladesh's innings before the match was halted due to rain. In a video that is going viral on social media, Kohli can be seen pretending to relay a throw from Arshdeep Singh at the non-striker's end even though he did not receive the ball, which went directly to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik at the striker's end.  

What does the ICC law state?

According to ICC playing conditions rule 41.5, it is unfair for any fielder to wilfully attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball. It is the responsibility of the umpires to decide whether any distraction, obstruction, or deception is deliberate or not. If either umpire considers that a fielder has caused or attempted to cause such a distraction, he shall immediately call and signal Dead ball and award 5 penalty runs to the batting side. 

India vs Bangladesh: As it happened

The five penalty runs eventually proved costly to the Bangladesh team as they lost the game by the same number of runs. Batting first, India scored 184/6 in 20 overs on the back of half-centuries from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. Suryakumar Yadav also contributed as he smashed 30 runs off just 15 balls. Bangladesh started the second innings with a bang but rain broke their momentum. Before the rain started pouring, Bangladesh had scored 66/0 in seven overs and were 17 runs ahead of the D/L par. 

When the play resumed, Bangladesh were given a revised target of 151 runs to chase in 16 overs. India made a stunning comeback to restrict Bangladesh to 145/6 in 16 overs. Some good catches and mind-boggling fielding ensured a victory for India. Bowlers also bowled well after coming back from the rain break. Kohli was named the player of the match for his unbeaten 64 off 44 balls. 

Image: ANI/Twitter