‘That was 100% fake fielding’: Aakash Chopra backs Bangladesh’s claim against Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been in excellent form during the ongoing T20 World Cup. Whenever he has appeared on the ground, he has stolen the show with his blistering batting performances. He has also been leading the tally of the highest run-scorer with 220 runs in 4 games. However, the star cricketer got himself into a rare controversy following an on-field gesture during the Bangladesh match on 2 November at the Adelaide Oval.

The incident took place in the 7th over of Bangladesh’s innings when Kohli was spotted faking a fielding effort. Though the deed went unnoticed by the on-field umpires, Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurus Hasan criticised the act.

Now, former Indian cricketer and commentator, Aakash Chopra, has also taken a step forward to reveal his thoughts on the matter. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra said that the attempt could cost a 5-run penalty against India if the umpires had noticed it as it would be considered “fake fielding.”

In the controversial delivery, while Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Nazmul Hasan Shanto attempted a couple, India pacer Arshdeep Singh picked up the ball in the deep and tossed it towards wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. When all of this was going on, Kohli, who was not involved in the matter, mimed grabbing and throwing the ball but it was nowhere near him. However, the Bangladesh batters easily finished the second run, showing that Kohli’s antics certainly had no effect on them.

As per cricket’s law 41.5, pertaining to unfair play, if the umpires determine that any fielder faked a dive, a throw, or made any other fielding gesture while the ball was not in close range of him, the fielding team can be awarded five penalty runs. Chopra stated, “The two runs the Bangladeshi pair made would have still counted if the five penalty runs had been awarded, the ball would have been dead, and Bangladesh would have had the option of choosing who gets the strike in the next delivery. So, there are significant consequences and severe punishment for any kind of fake fielding.”

Chopra also mentioned in the last that the scenario was quite different here as the officials missed Kohli’s action. “Yes, that was 100 percent a fake fielding effort due to the way the ball was thrown. We managed to get away from this, but the umpires will need to be more watchful if this happens again. Nothing can be done now because nobody noticed it back then,” he added further.